Ranger of Remnant
by Alpha701
Summary: Ex-Veteran Ranger/Courier Edward Vaughn was transported into the world of Remnant, where the world lush of green but is in constant danger by the creatures of Grim. Edward now must become a Huntsman to ensure the safety of his new-found home and the people within it. (NOTE: I do not own either RWBY or the Fallout Franchise)
1. Character Preview

**Fallout New Vegas Character Review for the story 'The Ranger of Remnant'**

Heads-Up Profile

Edward Vaughn-

-Male

-Auburn hair

-smooth wave hair style

-no beard

-Pale skin color

-Green eyes

-Caucasian

-Karma Status: ' _Messiah_ '

 ** _(Warning: Weight will not take effect, due to the Pipboy able to transfer items into data and such. Power Armor's Fusion Core will not take effect either, and ammo consumption will not be focused)_**

Apparel-

-Desert Ranger Combat Helmet(Honest Hearts DLC)

-Desert Ranger Combat Armor(Honest Hearts DLC)

-Elite Riot Gear Helmet(Lonesome Road DLC)

-Elite Riot Gear Armor(Lonesome Road DLC)

-NCR Veteran Ranger Helmet

-NCR Veteran Ranger Armor

-Winterized T-51b Power Helmet[Fallout 3 DLC Operation:Anchorage](Fallout 4 version *More of an actual mech suit*)

-Winterized T-51b Power Armor[Fallout 3 DLC Operation:Anchorage](Fallout 4 version *More of an actual mech suit*)

Power Armor Mods-

Helmet:

1) Targeting HUD

2) Bright Headlamp

Torso:

1) Motion-Assist Servos

2) Medic Pump

3) Jet Pack

Arms:

1) Hydraulic Bracers

Legs:

1) Calibrated Shocks

2) Explosive Vent

Weapons-

-'A Light Shining in Darkness' .45 Auto Pistol Compact (1911)

-'Smuggler's End' Laser Pistol(Fallout 3)

-Pulse Gun

-'AER14 Prototype' Laser Rifle

-Plasma Defender(GRA)

-'Q-35 Modulator' Plasma Rifle

-'Vengeance' Gatling Laser

-'Tesla-Beaton Prototype' Tesla Cannon

-'All American' Marksmen Carbine

-'This Machine' Battle Rifle (M1 Garand)

-'YCS/186' Gauss Rifle

\- .45 Auto Submachine Gun (Thompson)

-'Cleansing Flame(GRA) Flame Thrower

-'CZ57 Avenger' 5mm Minigun

-Anti-Material Rifle

-Automatic Rifle (BAR)

-'Maria' 9mm Pistol

-.45 Auto Pistol (1911) {2x}

-Ranger Sequoia

-'Lucky' .357 Magnum Revolver

-'Medicine Stick' Brush Gun

-Cowboy Repeater

-'Survivalist's Rifle' Service Rifle

-Katana(GRA)

-10mm SMG {2x}

-Riot Shotgun

-'Dinner Bell' Hunting Shotgun

-Lever-Action Shotgun

-SMMG [Shoulder Mounted Machine Gun]

-Flare Gun

-Red Glare

-'Mercy' Grenade Machinegun

-'Esther' Fat Man

-Grenade Launcher

-'Great Bear' Grenade Rifle

-Fire Bomb {15x}

-Plasma Grenade {15x}

-Pulse Grenade {15x}

-Frag Grenade {15x}

-Flash Bang {15x}

-Incendiary Grenade {15x}

-Detonator

-C4 Plastic Explosives {25x}

-Satchel Charge {25x}

-Fat Mine {10x}

-'Jingwei's Shocksword' Chinese Officer's Sword(Fallout 3 DLC Operation:Anchorage)

-Trench Knife(Fallout 3 DLC Operation:Anchorage)

-Lincoln's Repeater(Fallout 3)

-'Blood-Nap' Bowie Knife

-'Blade of the West' Bumper Sword

-Combat Knife

-Broad Machete

-'Old Glory' Staff

-War Club

-'Oh, Baby!' Super Sledge

-Shovel

-Protonic Inversal Axe

-Tomahawk {15x}

-Throwing Knives {15x}

-Throwing Hatchet {15x}

-Power Fist {2x}

-Binoculars

-Alien Blaster

-Big Mountain Transportalponder

Aid-

-Auto-inject Stimpak {500x}

-Auto-inject Super Stimpak {500x}

-Antivenom {50x}

-Stimpak {500x}

-Super Stimpak {500x}

-Doctor's Bag {15x}

-Datura Antivenom {50x}

-Healing Poultice {15x}

-Healing Powder {15x}

-Med-X {25x}

-Rad-X {90x}

-RadAway {100x}

-MRE(Meals Ready to Eat) [from DLC 'Lonesome Road'] {70x}

Misc-

-NCR Emergency Radio

-Stealth Boy {50x}

-Weapon Repair Kit {50x}

-Bottle Caps {30,000x}

-Acoustic Guitar

-Bobby pin {500x}

-Harmonica

-Override Chip

-Compass [from DLC 'Honest Hearts']

-Scriptures [from DLC 'Honest Hearts']

-Roughin' it! Bedroll kit [from DLC 'Lonesome Road']

S.P.E.C.I.A.L.

-Strength=10

-Perception=9

-Endurance=9

-Charisma=9

-Intelligence=9

-Agility=9

-Luck=9

 _ **(Resulted from the perk from Fallout 3 'Almost Perfect' and raises all S.P.E.C.I.A.L. points up to 9, and I mostly focused on my strength)**_

Allies with (Major and Minor Factions)-

1) Brotherhood of Steel (Both East and West Coast)

2) NCR

3) The Boomers

4) Reilly's Rangers

5) etc

Enemies with (Major and Minor Factions)-

1) Enclave (Except the Remnants from Fallout NV)

2) Raiders

3) Slavers

4) Fiends

5) Caesar's Legion

5) Powder Gangers

6) etc

Neutral with (Major and Minor Factions)-

1) Great Kahns

2) etc

Personality/History-

Edward Vaughn is a honest, compassionate, brave, kind, smart, quiet, and a good man who would put others' protection first than his own saftey. He is a weapon fanatic and travels all over the entire Wasteland with his Good Karma, which gave him the title of 'Messiah', just from constantly helping the people of the entire Wasteland, from freeing the slaves, hunting down Raiders, as well as the Enclave, Caesar's Legion, and others.

He started out in the Capital Wasteland when he first left Vault 101 to search for his missing father, James Vaughn. He learned how to hack military-grade terminals and lockpick through any door, if possible. While he traveled in the Capital, he mostly traveled around with Fawkes and sometimes with Dogmeat and when in the Mojave, he traveled with the Eyebot, ED-E, and Boone. He is allied with the Brotherhood of Steel(Both East and West), the NCR, the Boomers, Reilly's Rangers(Fallout 3), and other factions. He strongly hates any slavery, discrimination, murderers, and the such so he is enemies with Caesar's Legion, the Enclave(except the Remnants, considering they are good people), Slavers, Raiders, Fiends, Powder Gang, and others like them. He is always stocked up with unimaginable amount of ammo, aid, and such. He also scavenged a lot of things in ruins, caves, and other places that may be laying there like bottle caps, bobby pins, aid, ammo, and other things.

Sometimes he gets into unimaginable situations that no one would ever have like being abducted by Aliens, being transported to a place where an unopen casino that is surrounded by the City of the Dead and into the Top Secret BM Research Facilities. He has also made very well but dangerous journeys into the Great Divide, Zion Canyon, the Pitt, and other places. He even gotten military training from the combat simulation that takes place in the Liberation of Anchorage, Alaska from the Red Chinese Communists and the rest of his training is from first-hand experience ever since he was 18 to 19 years of age.


	2. Chapter 1: A New Life, A New Home

**Chapter 1: A New Life, A New Home**

 _Location-Big Mountain Research Facility 'The Think Tank'_  
 _Year-2281_

I was at Big Mountain because I received a message from Dr. Klien about some new prototype he was wanting me to test out. When I arrive, Dr. Klien showed me an advance version of the Transportalponder that can teleport me to Big Mountain and back more quicker and drains less power from their battery cells. I was listening to him explaining about it...

"...AND WITH THAT, YOU MAY NOW BEGIN TESTING IT." Dr. Klien concluded.

I looked down at the prototype before responding, "Okay, what will I get in return?"

"WELL, IF THIS WORKS, THEN YOU CAN KEEP IT, BUT IF IT DOESN'T, THEN...UHM...10,000 BOTTLE CAPS. HOW'S THAT?" He answered.

I raised my eyebrow before saying, "Alright, but just in case, you might wanna step back a little; who knows, it could explode."

"FAIR POINT, I'LL BACK UP A LITTLE." He said as he backed up before asking, "HOW'S THIS?"

"Perfect, now...wish me luck, I guess." I said before activating the device and then I disappeared.

 _Location-Unknown Year-Unknown_

I then reappeared but not where I know well. I looked around me and noticed that I was in some alley at night. I then looked at my Pipboy GPS only for it to show ' _ERROR: CONNECTION LOST. CONTACT YOUR [MISSING DIALOGUE] FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS_ '.

I sighed and muttered sarcastically, "Great, just fucking great; I have no idea on where I'm at and my Pipboy GPS is not working, but I'm picking up some strange radio stations."

But then I noticed something reflecting off of my Pipboy screen. I looked up and to my shock, is the moon. I thought, ' _What?! Why is the moon shattered?! Oh this is not good, not good at all_.'

I immediately calmed myself and stood there for a moment, thinking. I then thought, ' _Maybe I can find a store of some kind and obtain a map or two_.'

I then walked out of the alley only to see, to my left, was a shop called ' _From Dust Till Dawn_ '. I grinned and thought, ' _Thank you Lady Luck_.'

I walked in to see an elder man, who looked up to see me with the face of uncertainty. I walked up to him and asked, "Excuse me, sir, uhm...do you have any maps for sale? I'm a traveler, you see, and I needed a map for this region."

He smiled and pointed at the back. I nodded in thanks and went to the back to find the maps. I became worried when I saw the map that showed me an unfamiliar place. ' _Great, now I'm in some different world that I don't know about with no way back. Might as well make a new life_.'

I grabbed the map and heard a voice from the front, "Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a dust shop open this late?"

I looked around the corner to see a group of men with guns and swords, though one is different from the rest. ' _Oh shit, they're robbing this place! I have to do something!'_ I thought.

I then notice a young girl with black and red hood dress looking at a magazine about weapons before one of the men came up from behind her. I grinned and pulled out my Ranger Sequoia and quietly walked up behind him.

"I said, put your hands in the air." the man said to the girl.

"Are you... robbing me?" she said.

"YES!"

"Oh."

She then noticed me behind him and I nodded at her, resulting with her, a smile.

"Why are you smiling?!" he said.

"Because of me." I said as I punched him with my left hand, staggering him as the girl kick him to the front of the shop.

"Thanks." She said.

"No problem, but there is still more of them up front. So what's the plan: Bloodshed or knocking them out cold?" I responded.

"Knocking them out, of course." She said.

"Right... oh crap, here comes another one." I said

We both charged at the guy, crashing through the window with all the robbers dumbstruck. I looked towards my right and see her pulling out...a giant scythe?!

"Holy shit! That is an awesome weapon, you got there!" I complemented her.

"Thanks!" She said as she smiled.

Then the guy in white said to the others, "Okaay...Get them."

Then the men started to run out towards and I replaced my gun with my Katana and clashed blades with one of the men while the other two gotten their asses kicked by the girl with unimaginable skill. ' _Wow, that was awesome_.' I thought before I punched the guy in the gut with my left and knocked him out with a right.

I then replaced my Katana with 'This Machine' and we readied ourselves.

"Truly worth of every cent, you were. Well Miss Red and Mr. Mysterious, I would think this have been an eventful evening..." the man in white said as he dropped his cigar, "...and as I much loved to stick around..." he raises his cane at us and it was a gun, I figured, "...I'm afraid this...is where we part ways." He finished as he fire a shot at us. We dodged it and notice that he was gone. I then noticed him climbing up the ladder of a building and shout, "There! He's going up that building."

"You okay if we go after him?" She asked the old man.

He nodded and we went after him. She grabbed me and I asked, "What are y-" but I was interrupted as we blasted off the ground onto the roof.

"Please, warn me next time, okay?" I said to her.

"Sorry."

Then we turned towards him and I shouted, "Hey! Where do you think you're going?"

He stopped and said, "Persistent."

We both readied ourselves until a VTOL came out of nowhere and the guy climbed aboard, then yelled out, "End of the line, Miss Red and Mr. Mystery." As he threw a red gem of sorts and noticed a worrying expression on the girl's face. ' _This cannot be good_.'

He then aims at us and fired as we embraced for the inevitable, but nothing occurred and we noticed a woman with blonde hair casting...spells?! ' _What kind of world is this?!_ ' I thought.

Then the blonde started to fire some sort of an attack spell at the VTOL as the guy disappeared in the VTOL. The blonde woman then summoned an ice storm above the VTOL before another person on the VTOl appeared, which so happens to be another girl, and started to throw fireballs at as and made the ground beneath us explode. I then get frustrated and shouted out, "This is a bunch of bullshit."

Then the blonde woman uses the chunks of concrete and launches them at the VTOL, which deflected them. Then the woman, who throws fireballs, made them into dust. Then I saw the red girl's scythe changing into a sniper rifle and started shooting at the VTOL, and I do the same. The result that the she deflected them with ease and made a few more explosions and we all dodged them, resulting that the VTOL flew off. I then said, "Damn, they gotten away." as I sighed.

I turned towards the two girls and the one in red said to the blonde, "You're a Huntress..." I raised my eyebrow as she continued, "...Can I have your autograph?!"

' _Are you fucking serious?!_ ' I thought while I did a face-palm.

XXXXXXX

We were at some kind of a Police Station and I turned towards the red girl and said, "By the way, the name is Edward Vaughn, you?"

"Ruby. Ruby Rose. It's nice to meet you, Edward." Ruby responded.

"Likewise." I said before Miss Goodwitch, which I caught on with, walked in and began to talk.

"I hope you two realize that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly. You two put others in great danger." Goodwitch said.

"But they started it!" Ruby said.

I said, "Yeah, they were the ones who started trouble by robbing a store that we were in, but they were only taking colorful dust the store had and not the money."

"If it were up to me, you would be sent to your homes, with a pat on the back..." Goodwitch stopped as she looked at us. Me and Ruby were grinning until..

"...And a slap on the wrist." as she whipped her wand on the table, which made Ruby yelp and me flinching.

"But there is someone that wants to meet you two." She said as a man with silver hair, glasses, and hold a plate of cookies in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

"Ruby Rose..." He said as he pause for a moment to lean closer to her before continuing, "...you...have silver eyes."

"Ugh-uhm." Ruby muttered as the man looked towards at me and asks, "And who are you, young man?"

"Edward Vaughn, sir." as I gave him a two-fingered salute.

He then continues, "You have an interesting armor you got there, Mr. Vaughn."

"One, just call me Edward or Ed. There is no need for formalities, and two, thank you. This is the Desert Ranger Combat Armor. It's everything that a true wanderer like myself needs."

"So you're a traveler?" he asks.

"Yep, and all of my combat experience came from first-hand experience, though I came from somewhere you may not know of." I answered.

"Try me." he asks.

"Alright, but can I explain it to you later, maybe an appointment or something?" I said.

"Sure." he said as he turn towards Ruby.

"So...where did you learn this?" He asks as Goodwitch shows a recording of us both fighting.

"S-Signal Academy." she answered.

"They taught you how to use the most dangerous weapon ever design?" He asks.

"Well, one teacher in particular." She answered.

"I see..." he said as he gave the plate of cookies to Ruby, who just inhaling them.

"Woah, Jesus, Ruby! Breathe, or you'll choke by doing that." I said to her.

Ruby grinned sheepishly and offered a cookie to me, "Want one?"

"Sure, why not." I accepted her offer as I took off my helmet and I slowly ate it as the guy continues...

"It's just that I only seen one other scythe wielder; a dusty ole' crow..."

Ruby then said something that I didn't quite understand and gulps up the cookies.

She wipes her mouth and, "Hehe, sorry. That's my uncle, Qrow. He is a teacher at Signal. I was complete garbage when he took me under his wing, now, I'm all like; Oooh, yah..."

I watch her as she do karate chops and I thought to myself, ' _That is either adorable or funny as hell_.'

"So I've noticed..." he said as he set his coffee down.

"And what is an adorable girl like yourself being in a school for warriors?" He asked.

I stopped to look at Ruby and thought, ' _A school that trains people to become great warriors? Damn..._ '

Ruby answers, "I want to be a Huntress."

I cocked an eyebrow, listening carefully on the conversation.

"You want to slay monsters?"

"Yeah. I only have two more years of training left at Signal and I'm going to apply to Beacon. You see, my sister is starting this year and she is trying to become a Huntress as well, and I'm trying to become a Huntress because I want to help people. My parents always taught us to help others and I might as well make a career out of it, hehe, but I mean the police are alright, but Huntsman and Huntresses are so much romantic and exciting and gosh, you know?!" Ruby said.

I cracked a smile, obviously she has her mind set on a very good cause. ' _Reminds me when I was her age, except with the energy she has_.'

"...Do you know who I am?" he asked.

"You're Professor Ozpin. The headmaster at Beacon." Ruby answered.

My eyes widened from that. I just heard that Beacon is a well known and respected place and here is the headmaster of the damn place. Just, wow.

"Hello." Ozpin said.

"Nice to meet you." Ruby responded.

"You want to come to my school?" he asks.

"More than anything." Ruby said.

"Hmmph." muttered Goodwitch.

"Well okay." Ozpin said.

I saw hear eyes widened as I realized, ' _She had just been pulled out from two years and she is heading to Beacon? Lucky her_.'

"And you, Edward..." Ozpin said.

I looked at Ozpin and said, "Yeah?"

"I have also seen you in combat, and might I add, you're well experience, for a 15 year old." Ozpin said.

My eyes widen and thought, ' _What?! No wonder I feel more energetic then before, more...younger_.'

"Enough experience that might make you a Veteran. When did you start training?" He asked.

"Well, on my tenth birthday, my dad got me a BB gun and a place to target practice everyday when I could. I guess you could say I'm a fast learner." I answered, with a half- truth, of-course.

"And that device on your wrist?" he asks.

"This? This is my Pipboy 3000. It can keep track on my health status, inventory, and GPS...plus a radio." I answered.

Ruby asks, "Inventory?"

"Yeah, like weapons, apparel, aid, and Misc. Basically, I can store everything by digitize the gear into the Pipboy, like a data chip. Observe."

I raise my left had and brought out my 'Lucky', which appeared in my hand. Ruby grinned widely and said, "That is so awesome."

"Yep, and the overall, I'm basically a walking armory." I said, which resulted in Ruby squeal in excitement.

"Very impressive. Now let me ask you something." Ozpin said.

"Go ahead, shoot." I responded.

"Would you like to attend my school?" he asked.

"Well, I've been all over places that are not charted on your maps. Wastelands, if you will. I need to know more about these 'Huntsmen and Huntresses'. What do they do exactly?" I asked.

"Huntsmen and Huntresses are trained to protect people from dangers like the creatures of Grimm." He answered.

"Uh, What's a Grimm?" I asked.

Surprised by my question, he answers, "They are creatures of darkness, with no souls, no feelings, and will kill any Human or Faunus on sight."

"So, basically, you train people to become the ultimate protectors?" I asked.

"In any case, yes. Will you join?" He asks.

I sat there for a moment, then responded, "Where do I sign up?"

To be Continued...


	3. Chapter 2: Arrival at Beacon

**Chapter 2: Arrival At Beacon**

 _Location-Vale Year-Unknown_

A day has past and I have boarded some kind of an airship with multiple students on board. I thought, ' _Thank God I don't get motion sickness_.'

I then heard a familiar voice shouting my name, "Edward! Over here!"

I turned towards the source to see Ruby and a blonde chick. I waved back as I walked towards them responding, "Hey Ruby. Good to see you."

"You too. Ohh, and this is my older sister, Yang. Yang this is Edward, the one who helped me with the criminals at the store." She said.

' _She's her sister? They don't look like each other. Maybe half-sisters?_ " I thought before responding, "Nice to meet you, miss." as I extended out my hand.

She grabbed it, crushing slightly slightly and responding, "You too, and drop the formalities. Just call me Yang." as she let go my hand.

"Sure and wow, that's some grip you have there." I said.

"Take off your helmet." Yang said.

I looked at her and asked, "What?"

"Take off your helmet. I want to see what you look like."

"Uhm...s-sure, I guess." I responded and took of my helmet.

She looks at me intensely before replying, "Alright, you're good."

"Uhm, for what?" I asked.

"To date my sister, of course." She grinned as me and Ruby stare at here in shock.

"WHAT!?" Both me and Ruby responded.

"Yang, we're just friends, okay." Ruby said.

"Yea, just friends, nothing more." I said.

"Oh I get it! You two are taking it slow, aren't you?" she teased.

Both me and Ruby groaned and I thought, ' _God, she is worse than Butch and Veronica combined!_ '

"Oh dear God..." I muttered out until she came to me with a serious face.

"But if you even dare hurt my little sister in any way, you better wish that I won't hunt you down, understand?" Yang said angerly.

"Yes, I understand." I managed to say to her.

The she went back to cheerful and said, "Good, now let's get to know each other."

' _I swear she can probably scare Legendary Deathclaws and such to the point where they wimper in fear. Note to self: Never get on her bad side._ ' I thought.

"Sure, why not." I said to her as I put on my helmet.

"Okay. One: Is there a reason that the description 'Forgive Me Mama' is written on your helmet?" She asked.

"I wrote it so that my mother knows, always. My mother died when I was born and my dad abandon all of his work for me. I never knew my mother, but I still love her the same. I want her to forgive me about the deeds I have done in the past the were wrong, which I thought was right until it was too late." I said with a sigh.

They're faces were filled with sorrow and Ruby said, "You're not the only one."

I then looked up at them in the manner of surprise. She continued...

"My mother died when we were young and Yang here is searching for her mother and to find out why she left." Ruby said.

"Oh, I see. I've been in that similar situation when I was...uh...13 when my dad left without tell me why. After my long search, I finally found him, only for him to be killed by a group of bad people." I said and turned towards Yang and continued, "And don't worry, I'm sure you'll find your mother someday. In-fact, maybe I can help you, if you want."

Yang smiled and said, "Thanks."

But then the news came up, "The nefarious robbery was lead by none other than Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities..."

"Wait that's the same guy we fought against, when Ruby and I first met. That son of a gun..." I said as Ruby nodded at Yang.

"...If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you Lisa."

"Thank you, Cyril...In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Rights Protest, turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once peaceful organization has now disrupted-" It was cut short when the hologram of Glynda came up.

"Hello, and welcome to Beacon..."

"Who's that?" Yang asks. Before I could answer, Glynda continued.

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch...

"Oh." Yang said.

"...You are among a privileged few who had received an honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace..."

"There is no such thing." I said out loud. Ruby and Yang looked at me, confused.

"Wha-what do you mean?" Ruby asks.

I turned towards them and said, "Remember this quote: 'The Calm before the Storm.' You may never know when, but always be prepared."

Yang asks, "Why is that?"

"War never changes." I said, bluntly.

Yang and Ruby looked at each other and then nodded in understanding.

"...and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now, it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world." and with that, she fades away and the students came over to watch the view of the city.

"Wow." Ruby gasped as she walked towards the window.

Me and Yang followed her and joined in to watch the view. I have to admit, it's better seeing a lot of green than brown all the time. I smiled at the view and said, "Now that is beautiful."

"Look, you can see Signal from up here!" Ruby said.

There was a brief moment of silence until...

"I guess home isn't far, after all." Ruby said.

"Beacon's our home now." Yang said.

"Amen to that." I said.

But we noticed a blonde guy getting sick and came rushing by us.

"Aaand there goes the moment." I said with a sigh.

"Well, I guess the view isn't for everyone." Yang said.

"It was a nice moment while it lasted." Ruby said.

"That's true, I guess." I agreed with Ruby.

"I wonder who we're going to meet?" Yang said.

"I just hope they're better than 'Vomit Boy'." Ruby said.

I looked down noticed that Yang gotten vomit on her shoes. "Uh, Yang?"

She looks at me and sees me pointing at her shoes. She looked down and what she saw, shocked her.

"Oh, Yang, gross, you got puke on your shoe!" Ruby said in disgust.

"Gross, gross, gross..." Yang repeated.

"Get away! Get away! Get away from me!" Ruby panicked.

I just shook my head and thought, ' _This is an adventure to remember of, that's for sure._ '

To be Continued...


	4. Chapter 3: Beacon

**Chapter 3: Beacon**

 _Location: Vale, Beacon Academy Year: Unknown_

We finally landed at Beacon Academy and immediately, the blonde guy ran out and vomited into a trash can. Me, Ruby, and Yang walked out of the airship and before us, was something that came out of a story book, in a sense.

"Wowwwww..." Me, Ruby, and Yang said simultaneously.

"This place...I'm just speechless here." I said.

"The view from Vale's got nothing on this." Yang said.

"You can say that again." I responded.

But then all of a sudden, Ruby began to act strange and was looking at other people's weapons.

"Ooh! Ooh! Sis! Vaughn! That kid has a collapsible staff! And she's got a fire sword!" She said excitedly.

My eyes were widened at them and I said, "Awesome! Where can I get one of those?! I need those for my collection of weaponry!"

Yang then pulled me and Ruby and said, "Easy you two, there just weapons."

I just looked at here and said, "Do you even know who you are talking to?"

"I know my own sister..." She said to before I interrupted her.

"I meant myself, I'm a weapons fanatic. I can't help it." I explained to her.

"Oh, great..." Yang said before Ruby spoke out...

"Just weapons?! They're an extension of ourselves! They're part of us! Ooh they're so cool..."

"Huh, that's a new perspective. I never thought of it that way. Awesome!" I said.

"Well why can't you swoon over your own weapon, Ruby? Aren't you happy with it?" Yang asks as Ruby pulled out her scythe.

"Of course, I'm happy with Cresent Rose! I just like seeing new ones. It's like meeting new people, but better." Ruby said.

"Again, new perspective." I responded.

"Ruby, Edward, Come on, why don't you guys go and try and make some friends on your own?" Yang asked.

"I'm mostly a lone wolf, but that's not a bad idea, I'll admit." I responded.

"But why would I need friends when I have you?" Ruby asks.

"Yeah, that's a good question, why?" I agreed and asked.

"Well... Actually, my friends are here." She said as four people appeared behind her. and took off, saying, "Gotta go catch up. 'Kay, c'ya, bye."

"W-wait!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Holy shit!" I said as I almost lost my balance.

"Where are you going?" Ruby asks.

"Are we supposed to go to our dorms? Where are our dorms? ...Do we have dorms? I don't know what I'm doing..." Ruby said as she fell into luggage pile.

"What the hell just happened?" I said as I shook my head before an unknown voice came out.

"What are you doing!?" said a girl in white, literally.

As I helped Ruby backed up, I then said to the girl, "Your make-up is fine, don't go crazy on us, miss uh..."

"Weiss, Weiss Schnee, and this isn't make-up, you dolt!" Weiss said.

"Don't you call me that...EVER!" I responded as I glared at her.

"Uh... S-sorry..." Ruby said

"Sorry? Do you have any idea of the damage you could've caused?" Weiss asked.

"Uhh..." Ruby said as she handed one of the luggage from the pile to Weiss.

"Gimme that! This is Dust mined and purified from the Schnee Quarry." Weiss said.

"Dust? You mean that colorful stuff?" I asked but was ignored.

"Uhh..." Ruby said again as she rubbed her head.

"What are you, brain dead?" Weiss said.

' _Wow, she is a bitch_ ' I thought to myself before I saw her waving a vile of red dust, which spewed out in the air.

"Dust! Fire, Water, Lightning, energy!" She yells out.

' _Huh, that actually explains it... Wait a minute..._ ' I thought before realizing what she was doing.

"Uhm, miss?" I said but ignored.

"Uhhh..."

"Are you even listening to me? Is this any of this sinking in?"

"Miss?" I said but was ignored again.

"What do you have to say for yourself!?"

"MISS!?" I yelled out.

"WHAT?!" Weiss yelled back.

But it was too late. Ruby sneezed and exploded with fire, ice and lightning.

"Uhh, nevermind..." I said as I did a face-palm.

"Unbelievable! This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!" Weiss said.

"I'm really, really sorry!" Ruby apologized.

"Ugh, You complete, dolt!"

"Don't call her that, either!" I said.

"What are you two doing here? Aren't you two a little young to be attending Beacon?"

"Ruby was pulled up two years by Professor Ozpin and I was asked to come, considering I'm a lone wanderer with a veteran-rating combat experience." I answered.

She starred at me with a surprised look on here face, but still filled with anger.

"This isn't your ordinary combat school. It's not just sparring and practice you know."

"Explain this 'sparring' to me, 'cause I got my experience, first-hand, with a little of practice beforehand, since I was ten years old." I said.

Again I was ignored. ' _What a bitch!_ ' I thought.

"We're here to fight monsters, so watch where you're going!" Weiss said.

"Hey, I said I was sorry, Princess!" Ruby said.

"Yeah, can you get that through your thick skull of yours?" I asked.

"Don't you start with me!" Weiss said to me.

"Oh ho, it already just began, bitch." I said.

"What did you just call me?!" She glared at me.

"You heard me, a bitch, because you speak like one, you act like one, and you are one, and if you mess with me or my friend here, you will regret it, Princess." I said as I glared back at her.

"It's Heiress, actually." Said a voice.

We turned towards to a girl in black, holding a book and holding Weiss's vile.

"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world." She said.

"Finally, some recognition!" Weiss said.

I leaned over to Ruby and whispered to her, "She is still a bitch in my book."

Ruby nodded before the girl continued, "The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners."

Me and Ruby snickered when Weiss got angry and took the vial and marched off.

"I promise I'll make this up to you!" Ruby yelled to her.

"No you don't have to." I said to Ruby.

She sighed and said to me, "Well, I guess we're not the only ones having a rough first day."

"Yeah, I guess so... Anyway, thanks fo-" I said before stopping to see the girl in black walk off without saying anything to us.

"Okay, bye then. See you around, I guess." I muttered out. I then turned to see Ruby slopped down to the ground in sorrow and said, "Welcome to Beacon..."

We both sighed until the same blonde guy came up and offered and hand to Ruby.

"Hey, I'm Jaune."

"Ruby, and this is Edward."

Jaune look towards me and I responded, "'Sup."

He nodded until Ruby asked him, "Aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?"

I chuckled at the question before responding, "Sorry, sorry, it's just that... Oh God...I'm terribly sorry."

XXXXX

"All I'm saying is that motion sickness is much more a common problem than people let on!" Jaune said.

"Look, I'm sorry Vomit-boy was the first thing that came to mind." Ruby said.

"Oh yeah, what if I called you Crater-face?"

"Hey, that explosion was an accident." Ruby exclaimed.

I listened on as I walked with them.

"Well the name's Jaune Arc! Short, sweet rolls off the tongue, ladies love it!"

' _Oh my God, really. This kid's need help with women, I can tell_.' I thought to myself.

"Do they?" Ruby asks.

"They will. Well, I hope they will... I mean, my mom always says that... Nevermind." Jaune said.

' _Yep, this kid need help_.' I thought to myself.

"So I got this thing." Ruby said as she pulls out Cresent Rose.

"Whoa! Is that a scythe?!" Jaune asks.

"It's also a customizable, high impact velocity sniper rifle." Ruby said.

"A wha-"

"It's also a gun." I answered.

"Oh, that's cool!"

"So what've you got?" Ruby asks.

"Oh- uh, I got this sword."

"Oooooooh!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Hmm, nice." I said.

"Yeah, I've got a shield too!"

"Okay, that's officially badass, Jaune." I said.

"So what do they do?" Ruby asks.

Jaune then fumbled around with his shield before saying, "Well...the shield gets smaller... So... when I get tired of carrying it... I can just put it away." Jaune said.

"But wouldn't it weigh the same?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah it does."

"Well, I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons." Ruby said.

"Same here." I said.

"I guess I did go a little overboard designing it."

"Wait. You made that?" Me and Jaune asked.

"Of-course, all students at Signal forged their own weapons."

' _Goddammit, I want to make myself a greatsword or something similar! I really need to do that sometime_.' I thought to myself.

"Didn't you make yours?" Ruby asked.

"It's a hand-me-down. My great-great-grandfather used it to fight in the war." Jaune said.

"...sounds more like a family heirloom to me! Well I like it! Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days." Ruby said

"Yeah, considered yourself to be honored to carry out your family's legacy. Truly an honor." I said.

"Yeah, the classics... So what do you have, Edward?" Jaune asked.

"Well, this thing is my armory." I said as I showed him my Pipboy and pulled out my Katana.

"Wow, that's cool." Jaune said.

"So why'd you help us out back there, in the courtyard?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, why?" I asked.

"Eh, why not! My mom always says, ' _Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet_ '."

"Now that there is the truth, unless they're the bad guys, of-course." I said.

"Hey, where are we going, guys?" Ruby asked.

We looked around us to see that we were lost. I responded, "God Dammit."

"I dunno, I was following you guys. You think there might be a directory? Maybe a food court? Some sort of recognizable landmark? Is uh... Is that a 'no'?"

Both me and Ruby said, "That's a no."

To be Continued...


	5. Chapter 3: Beacon (Part 2)

**Chapter 3: Beacon (Part 2)**

 _Location: Vale, Beacon Academy Year: Unknown_

We finally arrived at what looks like an auditorium, where the other students are at.

"Ruby! Eddy! Over here! I saved you two a spot!" Yang yelled out to us.

Ruby then said to Jaune, "Hey we gotta go! We'll see you after the ceremony!"

"Yeah, see you around, Jaune." I said as I did my two-finger salute.

We walked away and heard Jaune, "Hey, wait!"

"How's you first day going, guys?" Yang asked us.

"You mean since you ditched us and I exploded!?" Ruby answered.

"Yikes. Meltdown already?"

"No, she literally exploded." I said to Yang.

"Yeah, I literally exploded a hole in front of the school...There was a fire...and I think some ice." she added.

"Are you guys being sarcastic?" Yang asked with a grin.

"I wish." Me and Ruby said.

"I tripped over some crabby girl's luggage!" Ruby continued to talk as I notice the Weiss girl from before.

"Uhm, Ruby?" I asked.

"And she yelled at me! And then I sneezed..."

"Ruby?" I asked again.

"... And then I exploded! And then she yelled again!"

"Ruby? Ruby?!" I started to get worried.

"And I felt really, really bad! And I just wanted her to stop yelling me!"

"Ruby!?" I finally yelled before...

"You!"

' _Oh crap..._ ' I thought.

"Oh god, it's happening again!" She yelped as she jumped into Yang's arms.

"I... tried to warn you, but you didn't listen." I told Ruby.

"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" Weiss yelled.

"Oh my god, you really exploded." Yang said.

"Yep, told ya." I responded

"It was an accident!" Ruby said.

"Yeah, can you at least forgive her?" I asked.

But then she then pulled up something called ' _DUST for Dummies and other Inadequate Individuals_ ', then she started to ramble on about policies and other bullcrap of such.

After she finished, I then told her, "You know, it is your fault for not correctly sealing that vile of yours in the first place, right?" I asked her with a smirk on my face.

Weiss then became angry and shoved the policies bullshit guide on me and left. I looked at it for a moment before tearing it up and threw it on the ground.

"She is a bitch!" I said with my arms crossed.

Yang responded, "You can say that again."

The Ozpin came up on stage, "Ahem... I'll keep this brief."

We then looked towards Ozpin as he continued, "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when your finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people."

Ruby and I grinned at each other as Ozpin continues...

"But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose, direction."

Then we all frowned upon his speech...

"You assume knowledge will free you of this but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

He finished and I said, "This does not boost my confidence up at all. What is wrong with him anyways?"

"Yeah, I don't know either, but it has to mean something, otherwise it would all been for nothing." Yang said.

"I feel depressed..." Ruby said.

"Your not the only one, Ruby." I said with a sigh.

Glynda then came up and said, "Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed!"

XXXXXXX

I throw out my 'Roughin' it! Bedroll kit' and layed down on it and pulled out my my scriptures to read. Ruby and Yang were in their pajamas, talking while I was still in my outfit. I then noticed the girl in black from before and I then asked her out in the blue, "You know, you never told me your name, miss."

She then looked at me from her book and was slightly surprised by me and then answered, "It's Blake, Blake Belladonna."

"Edward Vaughn, it's good to meet you, finally." I answered back.

She then notices what I was reading and asked, "What are you reading?"

I then looked back at her and answered, "The scriptures."

"So you're into the cult stuff?"

"It's more about religion, when God made the Ear- ugh, Remnant in 7 days and as well as the heavens. He then made all life among it out of the dust in his own image." I asnwered.

"She watched me in interest and asked, "Did... he made the Grimm?"

"No, that would be the devil's doing."

"The Devil?" She asked me.

"The ruler of Hell, the underworld, which is the opposite of the heavens."

She was silent for a moment and then asked, "Did this 'God' made the Faunas or did 'they' came on some accident?"

"Faunas?" I asked.

"You don't know what a Faunas is?" she asked with an eyebrow lifted at me.

"I was born in the Badlands, the place that is uncharted. Can you explained what they are?" I asked.

"Faunas are half human-half animal. They are like humans but with animal features like ears or tails." She answered.

"Huh, that is very interesting. Can't wait meet one of them, and to answer you question: God never made anything on accident. He made them for a specific reason, probably a test between Mankind and Faunas alike."

"And what would that test be?"

"Who knows, but one thing is for sure, it's something have to do with a test." I answered.

"Do you hate Faunas?" She asked.

That took me by surprised, but answered nonetheless, "No, I have nothing against them, no reason to. God made us, both Faunas and Human alike, and love us like no other. I am against discrimmination of any kind, and if I see anyone discrimminating anyone else because they're different, then they are going to have a problem with me."

She smiled and said, "Good to know."

We then both went back to our books until I noticed Yang dragging Ruby towards Blake and I said to her, "Hey, incoming." as I pointed towards to them. Blake nodded and I really mostly didn't pay attention throughout the whole conversation between Ruby, Yang, Blake, and Weiss and then Blake blew out the candle.

' _This is truly going to be the best adventure ever!_ ' I thought as I went to sleep.

To be Continued...


	6. Chapter 4: The Initiation

**Chapter 4: The Initiation**

 _Location: Vale, Beacon Academy Year: unknown_

I woke up early just to see everyone else still asleep aside from Blake, who, of-course, was reading her book and was also already dressed and ready to go.

"I thought I was the only one who woke up early." I said as she takes notice.

"It's a force of habit, what about you?" She asks.

"Same here. I usually wake up early to continue on traveling throughout the badlands, helping people in need." I answered.

"So your calling yourself a hero?"

"I wouldn't say that, more of a vigilante in my case." I answered.

She was silent until she asked me, "Can you keep it a secret?"

"I'm full of them, what is it that you want to tell me?" I asked.

She removed her bow to reveal that she was a Faunas, a cat Faunas to be precise.

"So your a Faunas? Why would you want to keep it a secret? And more importantly, why would you want me to know?" I asked with an eyebrow raised.

"It's because I feel like I can trust you, and after all, you did tell me that you don't discriminate." She answered.

"Well don't worry, I'll keep it a secret." I said as she put her bow back on.

"Thanks." She said.

We then noticed that everyone is slowly getting up and began getting ready.

"Well it looks like we best get ready, at least." I said in conclusion.

"Sure." She said.

I then put away my bedroll kit into my Pipboy and turned to see Blake with a surprised look on her face.

"What?" I asked.

"How did you do that with your bedroll?" She asked me.

"Oh, its my Pipboy 3000. I can basically store everything from weapons, aid, junk, and ammo within it by digitalizing it like a data chip." I explained to her.

"Wow. What else can it do?" She asks me while staring at my Pipboy.

"It can keep track on my health status, objectives, a GPS, and a radio, but mostly with music. But for some reason, it lost connection with the GPS satellite and-" I was interrupted by my Pipboy.

"REGAINING GPS SYSTEMS: ACTIVE. HAVE A NICE DAY, MR. VAUGHN." It spoke.

"Oh, now you work? You stupid piece of machinery." I said to my Pipboy as Blake laughed.

"Wow. I never thought you'd be the laughing type." I said.

"I even surprised myself sometimes." She said to me.

Then Yang came up to me and Blake and asked, "Hey Edward, can you help me getting Ruby up?"

"Yeah, sure. I think I have an idea." I said as I walked towards Ruby, who was still sleeping.

I then yelled, "We made cookies!"

Ruby shot up and asked, "Cookies?!"

"Na, that was a lie, I'm afraid. It was the only way to get you up." I said.

"Ah dang it. Your no fun." she pouts.

"You really don't want to miss your Initiation Day, now do you Rubes?" I asked with a smirk.

"Oh right, thanks Edd!" she thanked me as she went to the restroom to get ready.

Yang and Blake came up to me and Yang said, "I didn't really thought of that, nice job, Eddy!"

"Thanks, Yang. I thought that it might do the trick so, yeah. But enough chit-chat, until Ruby comes out, we need to get going." I said and received a couple of nods from both.

XXXXXXX

We were at the lockers until two people came by. One was a gingered hair girl who was harassing a guy in green. I then asked Yang and Ruby, "What's gotten into her?"

"Oh, who knows... So! You two seemed awfully chipper this morning." Yang asked us.

"Yep! No more awkward small talk or "getting to know you" stuff, besides you Edward." Ruby said.

"Uhm, thanks, I guess." I said, not really paying attention.

"So today I get to let my sweetheart do the talking." she said.

"Well, remember guys, you not the only ones going through initiation. If you guys want to grow up, you're going to have to meet new people and learn to work together." Yang said.

"Hey, I'm plenty grown up!" I said.

"Ugh, you sound like dad!" She said which struck me. I started to remember about my dad from all those years ago.

Yang and Ruby were going to ask me what's wrong until they remember the conversation about his father dying. Ruby then started to panic, "Oh, I'm sorry-"

"No, no, it's alright, you don't have to worry about me. I'm going to head out, see ya." I said as I waved farewell.

Blake then came to me and asked, "Is there something wrong?"

"Just having memories about dad, is all." I answered.

"And how is he by the way?" She asked.

"He's in a better place." I said which shocked her.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that."

"It's alright, you didn't know. At least he's with mom." I said.

"So, you're an orphan?" She asked me in a surprised manner.

"Yeah, my mother died when I was born and my dad died for what he believed in when I was...uhm... 13. I know they wanted me do good for this world, and that's why I'm here, to help people, like I've always done." I said.

"I'm sure they are proud of you, Edward." Blake reassured me.

"Thanks, that means a lot." I said as Glynda came on to the speakers...

"Would all first year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

"Well, it looks like we're up, Blake. Good Luck!" I said to Blake

"You too." Blake said as we shook hands.

XXXXXX

 _Location: Beacon Cliff Year: Unknown_

"For years you have trained to become warriors. And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin said.

We continued to listen in as Glynda spoke up...

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about assignment of teams, but since there is one extra student amongst us..." She then look towards me, "Edward Vaughn, since you are a Veteran-rating warrior, you would become a mentor to two teams that you would be spending the most time with and advise you to pick a relic that suits you best, understood?"

I gave a salute and responded, "Yes, mam."

She smiled at me and said, "Good, now continuing... Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today."

"What?" Ruby asked in a fearful tone.

"Don't worry Ruby, you're gonna be fine." I said to Ruby.

Then Ozpin said, "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at it is your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work with."

' _Okay, sounds simple enough, but..._ ' I thought as I hear Ruby made fearful noises.

Ozpin continues, "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next 4 years."

And as though there was glass shattering, I hear Ruby, panicking, "What?!"

' _Well, crap this is no- wait, what does he mean by landing?_ ' I asked myself in my mind before saying to Ruby, "Okay, maybe it is the time to panic, but you must calm yourself right now, okay?"

Ruby nodded and responded, "Okay, okay, your right, I need to calm myself. Thanks Edward." as she takes deep breaths.

"Any time, Rubes." I said before Ozpin continued.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die."

I then hear Jaune give a nervous laughter before gulping. I then muttered, "This is so not going to end well, but maybe it will, who knows? Oh please Lady Luck, help us."

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene." Ozpin said.

' _Well, fuck me sideways, this is going to be hell._ ' I thought to myself.

Ozpin continued, "You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately."

"That's easier said than done, sir." I said as he continued.

"Are there any questions?" Ozpin asked.

Jaune raised his hand and answered, "Yeah, um, sir-"

"Good, now take your positions." Ozpin said.

I then looked to my left and saw the slowly one by one, the students were launched from there pads and looked down at my own pad before respond, "Oh goddamnit! Why is this shit always happens to me?!"

I then turned towards Ozpin, "Ozpin, I swear to everything that is unholy, I will shove holy water down your throa-AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I was interrupted when I was launched from the pad.

To be Continued...


	7. Chapter 5: The Initiation (Part 2)

_**(I made a few changes and additions to the previous chapters and the Character Preview and change the power armor from a T-45b to the Winterized T-51b from Fallout 3 DLC Operation:Anchorage, considering this character is both the Courier and the Lone Wanderer, but I hope you enjoy!)**_

 **Chapter 5: The Initiation (Part 2)**

 _Location: Vale, Emerald Forest Year: Unknown_

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!" I started to panic as I was launched into the sky and hurtling towards the forest before a thought came to mind.

' _Wait, I have my Power Armor. I can just use it to crash-land and take less damage._ ' I thought to myself as I put on my Power Armor. Moments afterward, I crashed into the ground and made a small crater afterwards. I then checked my Pipboy to see my health status and to see my chest health bar and my right leg health bar had taken damage.

' _Eh, not too bad. I'll just use two Stimpaks and I'll be on my way._ ' I thought to myself as I pulled out the Stimpaks.

Afterwards, I climbed out of the crater and then pulled out my ' _YCS/186 Gauss Rifle_ ' and I heard Ruby shouted, "Birdy, NO!"

I looked up to see Ruby flying overhead as well as some other students. I shook my head and muttered, "Oh, Ruby. I hope she is going to be alright."

I was about to continue walking before I heard growls coming from behind me. I turned to see a pack of large, wolf-like creatures with a body pure black with bone-like armor with red markings.

' _So these are the Grimm I heard so much about. I'm not impressed, somewhat._ ' I thought to myself as I replaced my ' _YCS/186_ ' with my Plasma Defender and stood my ground, still wearing my Winterized T-51b, while these monstrosities circle around me. I then pulled out in my other hand, my ' _Blood-Nap_ ' Bowie Knife and said, "Let's see what you got, shall we?"

I was answered by one of them, attacking me from my right and I ended up shooting it in the head, turning it into a green, bubbling puddle of goo. Then to my left and I stabbed my blade upwards through its head and dropped like a rock. They kept on continuing to try and kill me, but failed miserably as I stood there at the same spot, killing them one by one. they eventually stopped assaulting me and I asked out, "What? Why the heck did you guys stop all of a sudden?"

I was given an answer when an even larger Grimm that was also wolf-like and was followed by more of its smaller kind.

"I'm guessing you're the pack leader, am I right?" I asked out.

I was answered again, but this time, with a growling and barking, as if saying " _You are correct, human_."

I then looked around me at these wolf-like creatures before saying, "You guys are just like Deathclaws, except not as scary."

All of them looked at each other in confusion and I replaced by weapons with my ' _Smuggler's End_ ' and a Fire Bomb before I continued, "Well, let's get this over with."

Then all of them, except the Alpha male, charged at me and I basted them away in a matter of minutes. afterwards, the Alpha started to charge at me head-on and I replaced ' _Smuggler's End_ ' with my ' _A Light Shining in Darkness_ ' and shot a decent-size hole in its chest. I then ran up to it, shoved my Fire Bomb into the hole and kicked the Alpha away and aimed my gun at it.

The Alpha looked at the Fire Bomb weakly and then towards at me and its reaction was around the area of " _Oh crap._ "

"Burn in Hell." I said as I shot my gun at the Fire Bomb, which it exploded, bursting the Alpha into flames.

I then replaced my gun with my Protonic Inversal Axe and continued onward towards north before I replied, "Again, not impressed."

XXXXXXX

' _Ozin's 1st POV_ '

I watched Edward as he rose out of the crater, wearing an armored mech suit and gotten himself surrounded by Beowolves. What almost surprised me is that he didn't even struggle against the Beowolves and even eliminated the Alpha Beowolf in mere seconds.

"This boy... He's unlike anyone we ever encountered. He just wiped out a pack of Beowolves in minutes. It's like he isn't even trying. I know that he is a Veteran, but even a Veteran would have at least some trouble with them. What do you think, Ozpin?" Glynda asked me.

I answered, "I think... that we are lucky to have him here at Beacon. He's not just skilled in combat, but what I've heard is that he is also skilled in diplomacy, computers, strategy, reaction timing, and everything else."

"But he seems like that he isn't even from around here, or this world, crazy as it sounds. And what he said about being from uncharted parts of the world, well we have charted all over Remnant and have nowhere that, what he says, are Badlands or Wastelands. And for him to never even heard about Beacon, including Huntsmen and Huntresses, or even Grimm for that matter. What should we do after the Initiation, Ozpin?" She then asked.

I sat there for a moment, took a sip of my coffee, before replying, "We will ask him when the Initiation is over and the teams have been formed. We'll see what will happen afterward."

"Of-course, Ozpin." She responded as I continued to watch the students' progress.

XXXXXX

' _Back To Edward_ '

I continued on through the forest towards north as I hear Yang's voice shouting, "Helloooooooo? Is anyone out there?"

I then rushed towards Yang's location and found here.

Yang asks, "Whoa, who are you?"

"What do yo-" I stopped as I realized I was in my Power Armor.

"Oh, right. I'm still wearing my Power Armor. It's me, Edward." I then said.

"Edward? What are you wearing? It looks pretty neat!" Yang asks as she looks at me, impressed.

"Oh, this is my Winterized T-51b Power Armor. I used it for a landing strategy." I answered.

"Power Armor?"

"Basically an armored mech suit that makes me a walking tank, literally. Of course, there are others like the T-45b, the T-60b, X-01's, normal and Tesla version, and the X-02's, normal, Tesla, and Hellfire versions." I answered.

"Really? Cool! But why this one and not the other ones?" Yang asks.

"Oh, I have them all, I just don't have them with me and I prefer this one, 'cause this thing can take a hit." I responded.

"Really? How much?"

"Well, what's the most powerful weapon that exists? Like a bomb or... uh..." I asked Yang.

"The Dust Bomb. It can wipe out almost an entire city." Yang answered.

I was shocked for a moment and thought, ' _Damn, this world has their version of the Atomic Bomb, though not as powerful._ '

I then responded to her, "Well if to... say... drop a 'Dust Bomb' on me while I wear this suit, well... let's just say that afterward, this suit would not have a single scratch, like nothing ever happened, that's how powerful it is."

Yang's eyes widened and said, "Wow! That powerful?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that I won't get harmed. I won't be killed, just injured, maybe." I added.

"Oh, well that sucks." Yang said as we continued onward.

But then we heard rustling within the bushes towards the right, behind us.

"Is someone there?" Yang asked out.

I then switched my weapon with my ' _AER14 Prototype_ ' and aimed it towards the bushes and asked out, "Hello? If someone's there, then please come out."

Yang then walked towards and checked behind the bushes and asks, "Ruby, is that you?"

But then two large Yao Guai-like Grimm popped up from the bushes and stared both at me and Yang, who said, "Nope, that is not Ruby."

"Oh, Really? What gave that away?" I asked her sarcastically right before the two Grimm charged at us and we both dodged.

I shouted to Yang, "Yang! I got the one on the right, you got the left!"

"Alright!" she responded and then she charged at one of them.

I then looked towards at my target, who roared at my face. I then replaced my Laser Rifle with my Power Fists and shouted, "Come at me, ya stupid, ugly, son of a bitch!"

Then me and the Grimm charged at each other and I started to punch it like there is no tomorrow.

Yang then punched her target backwards as I do the same as Yang asks, "You guys wouldn't happen to have seen a girl in a red hood would you?"

"Uh, Yang? I don't think they give a fuck." I said to Yang.

"I was just asking." She responded as one of the Grimm growled at us.

Then the Grimm charged at us as Yang said, "Could have said no!"

We both dodged from their attacks and told Yang, "I think that means ' _Fuck you_ ' in their tongue, Yang."

"Ah, who cares. We're just gonna..." She slowly drifted off as she eyed on something.

I looked closer and saw a strand of Yang's hair floating to the ground.

' _Why do I have a feeling that is a bad sign?_ ' I thought to myself.

Yang then tenses up and clenched her fists. I saw the two Grimm looking at each other in confusion before Yang sighed and spoke.

"You..." She paused as she closed her eyes.

"Oh crap, that's not good." I said to myself as I slowly stepped away slowly.

Then she opened her eyes again to reveal her eyes, which turned to red and her hair bursts into flames. And her body even bursts out a pulse of such and stared at the Grimm.

"Yep, she's gone super mode." I then turned towards the Grimm and said, "You guys are now fucked. Nice knowing you, kinda."

Yang then shouted, "YOU MONSTERS!"

She the charged at one of them a started to pound them non-stop and destroyed it with a couple of trees.

' _Okay, note to self: never touch her hair, ever._ ' I thought to myself.

Yang, who was still in rage, then turned towards the other Grimm as it came up towards her and she yells, "WHAT? YOU WANT SOME TOO?!"

The Grimm growled before it stopped and dropped to the ground, revealing Blake, who killed the Grimm.

"I could have taken him." Yang said after a the pause.

I then walked towards them and said to Yang, "Yang, remind me to never piss you off OR even touch your hair."

She grinned and responded, "Duly noted."

I then turned towards Blake, who has a surprised expression on her face, and said, "Hey Blake, it's me, Edward. I'm just wearing my Power Armor."

"Wow, what other outfits do you have?" Blake asks.

"Well, besides the Winterized T-51b that I'm wearing and the Desert Ranger Combat Armor, I have my old NCR Veteran Ranger Combat Armor, which is almost the same as my Desert Ranger, but kind of different, and the Elite Riot Gear, which is a more armored and advanced version of the Ranger armors." I responded as I replaced my Power Fists with my ' _All American_ '.

Yang then asks, "Ooh, can we see them both?!"

"Sure, why not? Here's the NCR Veteran Ranger Armor..." I answered as I open up a panel on my left arm to reveal my Pipboy and put on my NCR Veteran Ranger outfit.

They look at me with amazement and Blake said, "Maybe you should wear that more often, Edward."

"Maybe, and here is the Elite Riot Gear..." I responded as I switch to the said armor. Again, they were surprised by the appearance of the armor.

Yang commented, "You weren't kidding about it being a heavily armored version. It looks like you were preparing for a war."

"Everyday in the Wasteland, of every minute, of every second, I had to fight for either for survival, to defend those who are helpless, and such. Believe me when I say that I rather be here than there."

Both nodded and Blake asked, "So, which one are you going to wear for now?"

"For now, I need to put my Power Armor back on. I just feel like I haven't been using it for a long while." I responded as I did so.

Yang then asks, "Okay, which way is north?"

"Hang on, let me check my Pipboy GPS and..." I paused as I checked the map.

I then closed it and pointed past Blake, "It's that way."

Yang responded, "Cool, let's go."

So me, Yang, and Blake walked towards the designation before Yang asks, "Hey, can your... uhm..."

"My Pipboy?" I asked.

"Yeah, can your 'Pipboy' play some music?" Yang then asks.

"I have recorded holotapes, but one question for both of you..." I responded to them as both Blake and Yang looked at me for my question.

"How do you guys feel about old Blues, Jazz, Classic Rock, and Country music?" I asked them.

"Is that all you have?" Blake asks.

"Hey, remember, I'm from the wastes where everything is laid to wastes. Cities in ruins, mutated wildlife that kills everything in their path, hostile, military-grade robots, Raiders who enjoy butchering, slaughtering, and all other stuff that involves bloodshed just a fun past-time, Slavers, who are just as bad as the Raiders, gangs that are escapees from a prison and are armed with explosives, Meta-humans who just does worst than Raiders, Feral Ghouls who used to be humans until the radiation rotted their bodies and their brains, cannibals, and even remnants of a corrupted government known as the Enclave, and others like them. No one have never made any new music, whatsoever, so the music I have right now is all I have for the moment, okay?" I said to both of them.

Both Blake and Yang stared at me in shock on what I have described on about where I was from and the threats I had to faced before and I asked, "I... just went overboard, didn't I?"

They nodded and Yang asked, "So that's how bad this Wasteland you're from and had to fight against?"

"Yes, and we were cut off from the rest of the world. That's why you guys never heard of it." I answered.

Blake then asked, "How long was it like that?"

"Two centuries and 5 years." I answered and saw the reaction of horror on their faces.

Yang then asks, "H-how did the Wasteland became a... Wasteland?"

"Remember what I told you about the quote ' _The Calm before the Storm_ ' and what I said afterward?" I asked them.

Blake then turned towards Yang, who answered, "War never changes."

"That's right, War never changes." I responded.

Blake was surprised by this and asks me, "What do you mean by ' _War never changes_ '?"

I answered, "It means that the Wasteland was formed from war, not with Human vs Grimm, nor even a war with Humans vs Faunus, but with Humans vs Humans."

Blake and Yang were even more shocked by this and I continued, "Ever since the dawn of Humankind, when our ancestors found the killing power of rock and bone, blood has been spilled in the name of everything, from God, justice, vengeance, Freedom, retaliation, the destruction of Tyrants and the corruption of men, to ban slavery, to even psychotic rage."

Blake then asks, "Are there even people or groups that help helpless people besides yourself?"

"Yes, there are factions and people like me that are fighting for the protection of the people of the wastes, like the New California Republic, or NCR, Rielly's Rangers, the Boomers, The Followers of the Apocalypse, And the Brotherhood of Steel, both from the East and West Coasts." I answered.

Yang asks, "What are the bad ones?"

"That would be the Caesar's Legion, who are both raiders and slavers, The Enclave, who are a remnants of a corrupted government with their devil-like power armored soldiers, which so happens to be the X-01's, all variations, and the X-02's, and again; all variations. Then the Powder Gangers, the Talon Mercenaries, the Fiends, who are Raiders, and lots more. Though, there is the Great Khans, but they seem more neutral than anything." I answered.

They were silent for a moment until I added, "But the worst creatures that roam the wastes, are the Deathclaws, Radscorpions and the Cazidors."

Yang asks, "How bad are they?"

"Well, Deathclaws can cut you into pieces before you can ever react, even you Yang, as long as they don't coward in fear of you, that is."

"Just me?" Yang asks.

"Yep, and usually I'm not scared of anything, until I meet you, so if I'm scared of you, then the Deathclaws might be as well."

Yang just grinned at my statement until...

"The origins of the Deathclaws is that they were made in a research facility from multiple DNA samples from various creatures and such, and one of them, disturbingly, is human."

Both Yang and Blake was disturbed by that fact and I continued, "They were made for the military to be used as real, living weapons. They would have been tamed and/or equipped with a mind control device. But when the bombs fell, which was the cause of the war which made the Wasteland, the Deathclaws escaped into the Wastes."

Yang and Blake were shocked and Blake asks, "Don't they know the consequences when playing God?"

"Apparently not. Or maybe, they just didn't care or just ignored them." I answered back with a shrug. I then continued...

"And the Cazidors...* _shivers_ *... Are fast, agile, giant flying wasps that can kill you by stinging you multiple times and they are poisonous too, so, yeah..." I then sighed before continuing, "...And then, there are the Radscorpions, those fuckers, with their tailed stingers and multiple legs, their multiple eyes, and pincers, and as well as varieties of sizes and types."

"Which type of Radscorpion is the worse?" Blake asks.

I sighed and answered, "Albino Radscorpions. They're huge, probably a little larger than a motorcycle and tough as hell."

Yang then said, "I'm afraid to tell you this, but...uhm... there is a very similar version of this 'Radscorpion' you mentioned and it's called a Death Stalker, and they are as big as a house, kinda."

One of my eyes twitched before I began shouting to the Heavens, "GOD DAMNIT! WHY?!"

I the turn to them and said, "If you see Death Stalker and me running at it, then leave me be, 'cause I will end up blowing the fucker up, understand?"

They nodded and there was a moment of silence before Yang broke the silence, "So, about the music..."

"Oh, right, so which is it? The Blues, Jazz, Classic Rock, or Country?" I asked.

"Surprise me." Yang said.

"Anything is good right now." Blake said.

"Alright, here we go." I said as I played the recorded music and then ' _Ain't that a Kick in the Head_ ' by Dean Martin came one.

XXXXXX

' _1 Hour later..._ '

Me, Yang, and Blake arrived at the location and I responded as I turned off the music, "Well, looks like we're here."

"It looks like it." Yang responded.

"Yep." Blake said.

We then approached it and the relics turned out to be chess pieces.

"Chess pieces?" Blake asked.

"Some of them are missing." Yang said.

"I guess some other students came and went. I guess we should start by choosing." I concluded.

Both Yang's and Blake's heads nodded and I came up to the ' _relics_ '.

Then Yang suggested, "How about a cute little pony?"

I corrected her, "Actually, that's a knight, not a ' _pony_ '."

"Whatever." Yang responded and asked Blake, "So? How about it?"

"Sure." Blake answered.

I then went up towards the other Knight that was the exact same as the one Yang picked up, but black, and next to it was a King. I was about to pick up the King, but then decided to choose the Knight.

Blake looked at me and said, "I'm surprised that you didn't pick the king."

"I'm more of a Knight than a King, 'cause... well... I can lead sometimes, but not always. Plus, I always go into the field of battle with all my friends and allies, because sometimes victory isn't won on the throne, but within the frontlines, and also, I'm am a soldier and always will be, for the rest of my life, along with being a survivor." I said to her.

Both Yang and Blake were impressed by my statement and Blake said and asked, "You are selfless and dedicated. You truly are a vigilante that you say you are. So what kind of a reputation you have?"

"Everyone back at the Wasteland, they are actually began started calling me the ' _Messiah_ ', 'cause I've been helping people so much that they actually think that I might actually lead them to a better future." I answered.

Both of them was shocked, but yet impressed at my reputation.

"Are you sure that you are a vigilante?" Yang asked, grinning.

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm nothing more, nothing less. I just do what I believe what is truly right to do and help everyone who is struggling to survive every day and night, that's all." I answered.

Blake then said, "Then you might as well be a Messiah, because you truly act selfless and take matters into your own hands. You may even save everybody, if possible."

"A true Messiah would find a way to do so without any killing or wars involve, but I guess you're right, Blake." I responded.

"Or maybe a Crusader of sorts, probably. They are warrior version of a Messiah, kinda." Yang suggested.

"Maybe. So, I guess we're staying here for the others, right?" I asked.

They nodded at me until a girlish scream came out of nowhere.

"I guess some girl is in trouble." Yang said.

"That is not a girl..." I said.

Blake and Yang looked at me with a confused look and I continued...

"...That was Jaune, and I gotta say, that was the most girly-ish scream... ever." I finished.

Blake rolled her eyes and Yang was trying to hold her laughter. But then I heard something from above and asked, "Uh, girls? Did you hear something?"

I was then received an answer when Ruby fell from the sky, shouting, "HEADS UP!"

To be Continued...


	8. Chapter 6: Hear our Battle Cries

**Chapter 6: Hear our Battle Cries**

 _Location: Emerald Forest, Vale Year: unknown_

"HEADS UP!" Ruby shouted as she fell from the sky and headed right towards us, until she was intercepted by Jaune, who came out of nowhere, and knocked Ruby and himself into a nearby tree.

Me, Yang, and Blake just stood there in silence until Blake asks, "Did your sister just fall from the sky?"

"I-" Yang was interrupted by the sound of Grimm growling and trees falling.

"YEEHAW!" came a girl's voice. The Yao Guai-like Grimm fell over and revealed the same gingered haired, who had harassed a guy in green, come from behind it.

"Aww. It's broken." she said.

' _Did she just rode that thing to here?!_ ' I thought to myself before replying, "The fuck? That girl is crazy!"

Then the same guy in green came up and said to her, "Nora? Please... don't ever do that again."

But then 'Nora' disappeared and we heard a noise from behind us. We turned towards the source to reveal that Nora grabbing a white rook piece and sang, " _I'm Queen of the castle, I'm Queen of the castle!_ "

"NORA!" The guy shouted.

She giggled and replied, "Coming Ren!"

I was at a lost for words and all I was able to say was, "She kind of reminds me of Veronica back in the Wasteland, 'cause this girl's hyper as her, in some way, I guess."

Then Nora and Ren came up to us and Nora said to me, "Hi, Mr. Big Robot-Man!"

"I'm not a robot, this is just my Winterized T-51b Power Armor that I'm wearing. The name's Edward Vaughn, by the way." I responded as I replaced my ' _All American_ ' with my ' _Survivalist's Rifle_ '.

"Hiya Eddie! I'm Nora Valkyrie!" Nora said cheerfully.

"Nice to meet you, Edward. I'm Lie Ren, but everyone just calls me Ren." said Ren and then asked, "So I guess you're gonna be our mentor, I suppose?"

"Yep, but this is new to me. I actually never been a mentor or anything that relates to that before." I responded.

Blake then asked Ren, "Did your partner just rode in on that Ursa?"

Ren was about to answer until more Grimm growling and trees falling. We all turned towards the source and my eyes widened and muttered, "Holy shit..."

We saw a girl with red hair, wearing some kind of armor, came running out of the forest with a Death Stalker behind her. She then shouted out, "Jaune!"

Then Ruby jumped out of the tree and me and Yang said, "Ruby?"

Ruby then cheered, "Yang!" and was about to give her a hug until Nora came in...

"Nora!" she cheered.

Ruby recovers, looks towards me and asks, "Edward?"

"Yep, it's me. Like my Power Armor?" I responded.

"Like it?! I love it! It looks so cool!" Ruby said.

Then Blake asks, "Did she just ran all the way with a Death Stalker on her tail?"

Then that's when Yang snapped. She growled and yelled, "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! COULD EVERYONE JUST CHILL OUT FOR TWO SECONDS BEFORE SOMETHING CRAZY HAPPENS AGAIN?!"

Two seconds have passed and nothing happened. I then tried to lighten up the mood and joked, "Ask and you shall receive. Lucky you, Yang." as I ended in a chuckle.

It kinda worked and Yang eased up a bit and then Ruby asked as she pointed upwards, "Uhm, guys?"

We all looked up and I heard Weiss shouted from above, "HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME?!"

Weiss was hanging on to a talon of a giant-ass bird that was also Grimm.

"HOLY SHIT! THAT IS A HUGE-ASS BIRD!" I shouted in shock.

Ruby the yells back at Weiss, "I SAID 'JUMP'..."

"She's gonna fall." Blake stated.

"She'll be fine." Ruby responded.

"She's falling." Ren stated.

I sighed and said, "Don't worry, I got this."

Then they turned to me and Ruby asks, "What do you me-"

She was then interrupted when I activated my jet-pack and blasted off towards. I then caught Weiss and for a moment, she looked at me with a mixture of confusion and something else that I couldn't read.

I then responded, "Don't worry, I got ya. Now just hang on to me, we're 'bout to land hard."

She nodded and she held on as we came back down to the ground. After we landed, I set her back to the ground and she said, "Thanks, I guess."

"No problem. You may act like a bitch, sorry for that by the way, but that doesn't mean that I want you dead. Just next time, try to be a little nicer to other people, okay?" I responded.

She then looked at me with a surprised expression on her face and said, "Wait, you?!"

"Yep, and the name is Edward Vaughn." I responded.

She nodded and said, "Good to know."

We then hurried back to the others and Jaune appears to have gotten out of the tree. Ruby then asked, "You have a jetpack?!"

"Yeah, of course I do. What else is the large thing on my back for?" I responded to her with a chuckle.

We then turned towards the girl and the Death Stalker and Jaune said, "We have to help Pyrrha!"

"Does anyone have a way to make that Death Stalker to stay still?" I asked out.

Weiss then stepped up and answered, "I can. I am able to freeze it in place"

"Great! now we need Pyrrha to come to us but keep that Death Stalker as far away as possible." I said.

Jaune then shouted to Pyrrha, "Pyrrha! Come towards us and prepare to dodge out of the way!"

"Alright!" Pyrrha shouted as she came running at us.

"NOW!" I shouted and Weiss swung her sword and send out a cluster of ice.

Pyrrha dodged out of the way and the ice cluster came to contact with the Death Stalker, freezing it in place.

Pyrrha then hurried up to us and said, "Thanks guys! I thought it would never stop."

Then everyone else looked towards me and Ruby asks, "So what now, Edward?"

I turned towards them, grinned, and asked, "You guys wanna see something epic?"

They were confused and I replaced my ' _Survivalist's Rifle_ ' with my ' _Esther_ ' Fat Man and aimed it at the Death Stalker and shouted, "It's time for some fireworks, baby!"

I then fired my Fat Man and the projectile made a whistle sound, like when a bomb is dropped from a bomber, and made a humongous explosion, which almost could be seen back at the Beacon Cliff, of fire, smoke, rocks, dirt, and body parts from the Death Stalker into the air. I then reloaded my Fat Man and made a ' _DING_ ' sound after I reloaded.

I sighed in relief and said, "Now that was satisfying."

I then turned towards them to see shock, awe, and a little of excitement, mostly from Ruby, Nora, and Yang, but mostly shock.

Ruby then asked me with excitement in her voice, "That was so awesome! What is that weapon?!"

"This, here, is ' _Esther_ ', it's a Fat Man that launches this type of ammunition * _pulls out a Mini Nuke_ * known as the ' _Mini Nuke_ ', which can cause massive amount of damage to either a very large group of people or a very large enemy, like that Death Stalker from before. I only use it for those occasions, which is rarely, thankfully, 'cause these ' _Mini Nukes_ ' are very hard to come by, where I'm from. Lucky for me, I have quite a lot of them." I answered.

Nora then cut in, "What else do you have?!"

"I can probably tell you later, 'cause right now, I think I see that giant-ass bird coming at us." I said as I replaced ' _Esther_ ' back to my ' _Survivalist's Rifle_ '.

Then all of a sudden, the thing fired its large feathers at us like if it were projectiles. The others dodged out of the way while I stood there, deflecting them with my Power Armor.

"Oh you got to be kidding me! It shoots feathers at us as bullets?! THIS IS BULLSHIT!" I shouted out before the thing flew overhead to come back around.

The others came towards my location and Jaune said, "Guys, that thing's circling back."

"Yeah, we can see that, Jaune." I responded before asking them, "So what's the plan here, guys? I'm all open for any options."

Weiss responded, "Well, look, there's no sense in dilly-dallying. Our objective is right in front of us."

Ruby then followed up, "She's right. Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the cliffs."

"I don't mean to interrupt, but I rather not have a giant death bird follow us and risk Beacon in danger. We have to kill that thing before we can head back. Otherwise, we would be risking not just Beacon, but maybe the city of Vale as well and we can't risk that." I explained to them.

"I'm afraid Edward is right. We have to deal with it before heading back, or what he says is true, that we will be putting others at risk. But we also need to find a place to take it on where we can reach it." Ren said.

"Run and live. That is an idea I can get behind." Jaune said.

Weiss then asked, "But where? We're in a forest, and the trees aren't high enough to reach a Nevermore."

I was searching through my Pipboy GPS and found an even larger temple built on the side of a cliff and of a deep canyon, east of our location.

"Actually, my Pipboy GPS says that there is an even larger temple built on a side of a cliff and over a very deep canyon directly east of our location." I said to them.

"Perfect! Let's head there and we'll see what we'll do from there. Let's go!" Pyrrha responded.

To be Continued...


	9. Chapter 7: Hear our Battle Cries(Part 2)

**Chapter 7: Hear our Battle Cries (Part 2)**

 _Location: Emerald Forest, Vale Year: Unknown_

We were about to head east towards a large temple in order to take down a 'Nevermore', as they called it, and Yang stood there, looking at Ruby as she took the lead.

Me and Blake notice this and Blake asked Yang, "What is it?"

I then looked towards Ruby and realized the reason. I then turned to Blake and said, "I think I know what it is."

"What do you mean?" Blake asked.

"Just look." I said as I pointed at Ruby.

Blake looked at Ruby and understood on what I meant and we both continued on with the others towards the temple.

We then finally arrived at the location and the temple itself looked almost completely intact. The Nevermore had followed us as we crossed the old stone bridge that connects the temple and the cliff side that leads towards the forest.

I then replaced my ' _Survivalist's Rifle_ ' with my ' _AER14 Prototype_ ' and started engaging the Nevermore while others do the same. Me, Ruby, Yang, Blake, and Weiss were further on the bridge while the others were closer to the cliff side.

I then turned in time to see the Nevermore flying towards us, as in into us.

"Oh, son of bi-" I was cut off as the Nevermore rammed into the bridge, destroying it in the process, and we were able to reach to safety, thanks to my jet-pack and the others have made already gotten out of the way. I then landed on top of a pillar and I was really, really pissed.

"OKAY! THAT'S IT! I HAD ENOUGH OF THAT OVERSIZE FUCKING BIRD!" I shouted in rage, which Ruby, Blake, Yang, and Weiss noticed.

"It looks like Edward is pissed off now." Yang said.

"NOW PREPARE TO FACE MY ' _VENGEANCE_ ', YOU SON OF A BITCH!" I shouted as I replaced my ' _AER14 Prototype_ ' with my ' _Vengeance_ ' Gatling Laser at unleash my rage upon the Nevermore.

Surprisingly, it was actually hurting the Nevermore, but barley though.

XXXXXXX

' _RWBY 3rd POV..._ '

They watched in a surprised manner for a moment as Edward pulled out his ' _Vengeance_ ', which was laser-based weapon and he unleashed Hell upon the Nevermore.

Then Edward shouted to them, while still shooting, "THIS THING IS TOUGHER THAN IT LOOKS!"

Yang responded to him, "THEN LET'S HIT EVERYTHING WE'VE GOT!"

They all prepare themselves as the Nevermore, who was still being shot by Edward, flew towards them and they all began their assault upon it. But instead, the Nevermore was still unaffected by their attempts and it rammed into the structure that they were on.

XXXXXX

' _Back to Edward..._ '

I saw the Nevermore ramming into the structure where the girls stood and all of them were making upward by their own means. I then noticed that Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora firing their weapons at the Nevermore from where they're at while Jaune watched, since he has no guns.

I then saw Ruby heading right to me and said, "Edward, I have a plan that I may need your help with."

"Alright, so what do you have in mind, Ruby?" I responded and asked.

"First, how high can you go with your jet-pack?" She asks.

"Well, I might be able to barley get up to that cliff up there before it has to recharge, why you asked?" I asked with an eyebrow raised.

"How long for it to recharge?"

"Not too long but I have to wait a longer, 'cause it overheats." I answered.

Ruby then responded, "Okay, now I need you to get up to that cliff that is directly above that main structure..." She said as she pointed at the areas and continued, "...and wait there until I give the cue."

"What's the cue?" I asked.

"You'll know when it happens, and be ready grab and tear its head off." Ruby responded.

I nodded and said, "Alright, I'll get to it then."

She then left to join the others as I flew up to the cliff side directly above the main structure as Ruby told me and waited. I then saw Yang almost gotten eaten by the Nevermore and saw her blasting her shotgun gauntlets into its mouth before she jumped out.

Then the Nevermore crashed into the cliff side below me and landed on top of the structure. It gotten up and when it was about to take off, Weiss trapped its tail with ice and the thing struggle.

I then saw Blake, who was on top of a pillar, threw her sword and held onto the Blake ribbon of sorts and Yang caught it. Yang and Blake then secure it to both pillars and thought, ' _A sling shot? Why wo-_ '.

I then realized what Ruby had planned out as I saw her using herself as a projectile and aimed herself at the Grimm. She then was launched by Weiss, who used some kind of spell of sorts, and more of her symbols appeared on the face of the cliff side upwards to where I was at and then Ruby did something so bad ass, it looked like it came from a action-packed comic book that I used to read when I was younger. She dragged the Nevermore upwards with her ' _Cresent Rose_ ' and she yelled to me, "NOW!"

I then flew up a little and let myself drop like a rock and took hold of its head, and used my weight while I wore my Power Armor, while at the same time, Ruby fired her weapon, which made a harsh recoil and resulted a clean decapitation. I then let go of its head and flew up to Ruby, who stood there at the cliff's edge, and landed beside her.

We then looked at each other and I said, "That was the most bad ass move I have ever saw that you made there, Ruby. You did an awesome job."

She then smiled and replied, "Thanks, Edd."

We then looked down towards the others and waved at them.

Ruby then asked me, "Uhm... should we start heading back to Beacon right now?"

"Well, we need to get down there first and right now, my jet-pack has gotten overheated and can't use it right now or else, it could explode. So that means we have to climb down now." I said to her.

"Ugh, dang it!" she responded.

I sighed as I shook my head and said, "Let's just get this over with, Ruby."

' _To be Continued..._ '


	10. Chapter 8: The Reveal

**Chapter 8: The Reveal**

 _Location: Beacon Academy, Vale Year: Unknown_

"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark. The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as... Team CRDL[Cardinal], lead by Cardin Winchester." Ozpin said.

We were back at the Academy for our Initiation and watched as we waited.

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as... Team JNPR[Juniper], lead by Jaune Arc." Ozpin said.

We overheard Jaune asking in confusion, "Huh? L-lead by...?"

"Congratulations, young man." Ozpin said.

Then came up the last group and...

"Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Shnee, And Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as... Team RWBY[Ruby], lead by Ruby Rose." Ozpin said.

I muttered to myself, "Wow, just wow. Lucky you Rubes."

"And Edward Vaughn, step up to the stage, please." Ozpin asked me.

I did so and stepped up to the stage and...

"Since you are an extra student and having a Veteran-rating experience, as well as being able to show Team JNPR and Team RWBY on the path that they are on now and you have grabbed a Black Knight piece, you will become the mentor of Team RWBY and Team JNPR." Ozpin said.

I overheard Team's JNPR and RWBY cheering from behind me as Ozpin held up a hand to me...

"Congratulations, young man. Your parents must be proud." Ozpin said.

My heart aches as Ozpin mentions about my parents, but hide it well enough and shook Ozpin's hand.

"Thank you, sir." I responded.

XXXXX

 _'RWBY's and JNPR's 3rd POV...'_

Blake, Yang, and Ruby became worried about for Edward and the others took notice. Weiss asks, "Why with the long faces? You should be cheering for him."

Ruby responds, "We are proud, it's just that Ozpin mentioned his parents."

"So?" Weiss asked.

Blake said, "He told us that his mother died when he was born and his dad died sacrificing himself for his son and for what he believed in at the age of 13."

Weiss became wide-eyed and responded, "O-oh, I see."

"Oh, poor Eddie!" Nora said.

"I can see why you should be worrying for him." Ren said.

"So that's why I can sense sorrow within him, I feel sorry for him." Pyrrha said.

"Poor guy. It must be hard on him." Jaune said.

XXXXX

' _Back to Edward..._ '

I came down from the stage and JNPR and RWBY came up to me...

"Hey, are you alright, Edward?" Ruby asks.

"Yeah, just give me some time." I responded.

Blake said, "We're here for you when you need us."

I couldn't help but grin at her statement. I responded, "Thanks."

Then I notice Ozpin and Glynda walking towards us and...

"Edward Vaughn, we need to have a talk about where your from. Is that alright?" Ozpin asks.

I took the time to think over and finally responded, "Sure, as long as Teams RWBY and JNPR comes along. They need to know."

Ozpin grinned and responded, "Of-course Edward. We'll bring them with us."

Yang then came up and asked, "What do you mean ' _need to know_ '? Was there something that you didn't tell us about?"

I nodded and said, "Yeah. I haven't told you everything. I haven't lied about anything that I said before, it's just that I left out some certain things."

"Certain things?" Ruby asked.

"I will tell you all when we reach the headmaster's office, so let's get going." I responded.

' _Explaining about me being from a different world is going to be a pain in the ass._ ' I thought to myself as we follow Professor Ozpin to his office.

XXXXX

' _In Ozpin's Office..._ '

"Please, Edward. Have a seat." Ozpin said to me.

"I'll just stand, but thank you, though." I responded.

"Alright." Ozpin replied as he took a sip of his coffee before he continued.

"Now, Me and Ms. Goodwitch have went over the maps and we have charted all over Remnant. We didn't even find any 'Wasteland' that you mentioned and we want an explanation." Ozpin said.

Everyone looked towards me for my response. I sighed and said, "What I'm about to tell you is something that you guys will find hard to believe, impossible even. Even I still have a hard time believing it right now."

I paused for a moment and took a deep breath before continuing, "I am actually from a different world or dimension."

Everyone's face, except for Ozpin's, had an expression of shock and disbelief.

"You're from a different world?!" Ruby asked.

"Yeah. And this thing * _pulls out the broken Transportalponder version 2 prototype_ * is how I got here, which reminds me; if I ever get back, then I'm going to have a chat with Dr. Klein." I said.

"What is it?" Blake asks.

"This thing was an advance version of the Transportalponder and I was testing it for Dr. Klein at one of the Big Mountain research facilities, codename 'The Think Tank'. This thing was just a prototype and it was supposed to transport me from and back to the Big Mountain research facility a lot more efficiently and drains less power." I answered.

Yang asks, "Then why didn't you use it to go back?"

"Because it's broken beyond repair. That means I'm stuck here in your world." I answered.

"That sucks." Ruby said.

"Tell me about it." I responded.

"Hold up! Do you really expect us to believe you?" Weiss asked.

I shrugged and said, "I did say that you wouldn't believe me."

"Well I do."

We all looked towards Ozpin and he continued, "It actually makes sense on your part."

"Yeah... oh and here's another thing; do you guys ever theorize the possibility that when you get transported, that you could de-aged?" I asked.

"Yes, why you asked?" Ozpin answered and asked.

"Well, you see, it actually happened to me when I arrived here." I said.

"You de-aged?!" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah." I simply answered.

"But if your not 15, then how old are you then?" Ren asked.

"I'm actually 23 years old." I deadpanned.

That actually surprised them, even Ozpin was a little surprised.

"That actually explains your combat experience." Ozpin concluded.

"Yeah, and Yang. Never, ever joke about anything like back on the airship again." I said.

"Sorry." Yang apologized.

"So when did you arrived here?" Ruby asked.

"Actually, I arrived right before we just met. I appeared in an alleyway a block away from the store." I answered.

She was speechless at my response. I continued...

"And like I said, everything I have told you guys is true, besides the age part. About the Wasteland, the factions, everything." I said.

Some of them were confused while the rest were not.

Weiss asked, "Wasteland?"

I sighed and answered, "My world was plunged into an abyss of nuclear fire and radiation, cause by the atomic warheads that even one can wipe out a metropolis and the surrounding area miles out."

I paused so that the information sinks in and noticed that everyone was shocked. I then continued, "My world was at war, not against Grimm nor Faunas. They don't even exist in our world. We were at war against our own kind, just like it has been throughout the millennia. There were good reasons and bad reasons for these wars. The good reasons were to end slavery, to stop tyrants, to aid another nation, retaliation, for justice, for God, to protect the innocent, and to destroy the corruption of mankind."

I paused again and noticed that they were listening with interest. I then continued, "But the other reasons, the bad kind, was for power in wealth, leadership, territory, revenge, harming innocents, to even blood-lust. The once proud nation, the United States of America, which was born from a war for independence and to escape the tyranny of another, had first fought for the good reasons, but then later on, they were forced to fight wars in later years for resources and wealth to keep the nation alive. It was once known as the land of the free and home of the brave, where everyone was free and have equal rights, no matter what race or gender."

I paused again to see brighten faces when I described the U.S. and what it stands for. I continued, "But then on October 23rd, 2077, everything had changed."

"Changed?" Ren asked.

"On that very day, the atomic bombs have fell and wiped out everything. But it was not, how some predicted, the end of the world, instead it became another bloody chapter in human history." I answered.

"What do you mean by that?" Weiss asked.

"In the earlier days, thousands were sparred by this event by taking refuge in enormous, underground shelters known as 'Vaults'. Though when they emerged, they only have the Hell of the Wastes to greet them." I answered.

"How long has it been like that?" Pyrrha asked.

"Two centuries and 5 years." I answered.

Again, some of them were shocked by my response.

"205 years?!" Jaune asked in shock.

"Yes, Jaune." I replied.

I sighed and said, "I hope this doesn't change any of you're guys' perspective of me."

"Of-course not, Edward."

I looked towards Ruby and she continued, "Well, except with your age and you being from a different world, but we're still friends, right?"

"Yeah, Edd. That doesn't make us hate you or anything. After all, you did help my sister." Yang said.

Blake smiled and nodded and Ren did the same. Weiss seems to approve, Nora... I have no idea about her but she seems to not mind, and Jaune and Pyrrha have also nodded.

We then turned to Ozpin, who said, "Since we now know on where you're actually from, we might have to keep some things a secret, but it is good to know that you have told us the truth."

"Of-course, sir." I responded.

"And considering that you have nowhere to go and stay, then you will remain here as a student and a mentor to both teams here. You have earned it by right." Ozpin said.

"Thank you, sir." I responded.

Ozpin took another sip of his coffee before replying, "You are all now excuse and may head back to your dorms, and have a pleasant night."

"Yes, sir." I said and we all left the office. I thought, ' _That actually went better than I expected. I'm glad they still accepted me._ '

To be Continued...


	11. Chapter 9: Lessons Learned

**Chapter 9: Lessons Learned**

 _Location: Beacon Academy, Vale Year: Unknown_

I woke up around at 6:00 A.M. and gotten a head-start on organizing my own dorm. Ozpin was kind enough to lend some furnishings to me since I'm new to this world, as well as a school uniform, which was a suit-like outfit, and a device called a Scroll. I went ahead and stored it in my Pipboy and when I was about to relax, I heard a loud whistle, followed by a large ' _thump_ ', coming from Team RWBY's dorm.

I chuckled and thought, ' _Thank God I woke up early._ '

I checked the time on my Pipboy and it was around 7:45 and class starts at 9:00, so I have plenty of time to check on some of my weapons' conditions. Afterward, I checked on my ammunition stock.

After that was done, I notice that it was 8:56 and I switched to my uniform. I thought, ' _I never thought I would be wearing a school uniform in all of my life._ '

I then walked out of my dorm to see Teams RWBY and JNPR rushing out of their dorm and towards our class. I ran after them to catch up to them and thought, ' _God, I hope this isn't going to be boring as Hell._ '

XXXXXX

"Monsters! Demons... Prowlers of the night. Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names." Professor Port said.

I overheard Ruby snoring and I sighed and muttered quietly, "Really, Ruby?"

The professor continues, "But I, merely refer to them as prey." and gives a somewhat hearty laugh that woke Ruby up.

I thought, ' _Oh God, he's one of those teachers..._ ' then thought sarcastically, ' _Great, just fucking great._ '

The whole classroom was quiet and Professor Port continues, "Uhh, and you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy. Now as I was saying, Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world."

I thought, ' _If only you knew about my world, though._ '

"Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces."

I thought again, ' _The Wasteland is the same, maybe worse for all I know._ '

"And that's where we come in..." Professor Port continues onward as I lose interest and began to become lost in thought.

I started to have flashbacks back to the Capital and the Mojave Wastelands and remembered the good old days. Especially with my friends like Fawkes, RL-3 Sergeant, Dogmeat, Amata, Butch, Boone, Veronica, ED-E, and many others that I met within and even before my travels in the Wastelands.

Then my train-of-thought was interrupted by Weiss shouting, "I do sir!"

I looked towards Weiss, who has an expression of annoyance, with her hand raised.

"Well then, let's find out." Professor Port said as he looked towards a cage with something inside.

I was very confused and turned towards to Yang, who was in front of me, and asked, "How the Hell didn't we see that there?"

"I have no idea." she answered.

XXXXXX

' _a minute later..._ '

After Weiss gotten in her battle dress, as she calls it, she went to her fighting pose as she waits for the professor's cue.

"Gooo Weiss!" Yang cheered.

"Fight well!" Blake cheered as she waved a small flag with their team's name on it.

"Good luck, Weiss!" I cheered.

"Yeah, represent Team RWBY!" Ruby cheered.

Then Weiss turned towards Ruby in annoyance and said, "Ruby, I'm trying to focus."

"Oh, sorry." Ruby responded.

I raised an eyebrow and thought, ' _The Hell's going on? Why is Weiss being rude to Ruby?_ '

Then the professor said, "Alright. Let the match, begin." as he cut off the lock of the cage with his weapon, revealing a Grimm that looks like a wild boar.

Immediately, the Grimm charged at Weiss. Weiss dodges out of the way, as well as an attempt to hurt it with her sword. Instead, her attack was blocked by the Grimm's natural armor plating.

"Haha, wasn't expecting that were you?" the professor asked.

' _Nope, it was pretty obvious. At-least for me, though._ ' I thought as I watched.

"Hang in there Weiss!" Ruby shouted.

Weiss charged forward at the Grimm as it did the same. But then her blade gotten stuck from the Grimm's tusks.

"Bold, new approach. I like it!" the professor said.

"Come on Weiss, show it who's boss!" Ruby cheered.

Then she was distracted by Ruby's cheering and the Grimm used it to its advantage, by disarming Weiss of her sword.

"Oho, now what will you do without your weapon?" Professor Port asks.

' _You're not helping, professor!_ ' I thought in annoyance.

The Grimm charged at Weiss, who dodged out of the way, and resulted it to crash into one of the desks and fall over on its back. Weiss then ran towards her sword while the Grimm is down and picked her sword up.

"Weiss, go for its belly! There's no armor underneath-" Ruby shouted and Weiss interrupted.

"Stop telling me what to do!" Weiss shouted to Ruby.

"What's up with her? Ruby is only trying to help." I muttered to myself.

Then the Grimm did a barrel roll towards Weiss. Weiss made a symbol to block the Grimm's attack and to fall on its back. Weiss then killed the Grimm by shoving her blade into its belly.

"Bravo! Braa-vo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true huntress in training. I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings and, stay vigilant. Class dismissed." The professor said.

Weiss walked away as everyone else starts to leave the classroom. I walked up to Ruby, patted her on the back, and said, "Don't worry, Ruby. Let me go talk to her."

She nodded and I went after Weiss. I shouted to her, "Hey, Weiss!"

She turn towards me and asks, "What is it?"

She still seems very annoyed about something. I responded, "We're going to have chat, you and I. I want to know why you were shouting at Ruby back in class. Care to tell me why?"

"It's Ruby herself! She's my problem!" She shouted at me.

"Weiss, don't be hostile towards me. I know you're frustrated, but that doesn't give you an excuse to shout at Ruby like that. She was only cheering for you." I said to Weiss.

There was a pause and then I asked, "Now let me ask again, and give me a more precise answer: Why were you shouting at Ruby?"

"She's supposed to be a leader and all she's been so far is a nuisance." She answered.

"And what did she ever do to you? Besides accidentally falling into your luggage and almost blowing us off a cliff, she has done nothing to upset you." I responded.

"That's just it, she has done nothing to earn her position. Back in the forest, she acted like a child and she only continued to do so." She answered in frustration.

There was a pause for about 15 seconds before I responded, "So, it's because that you should be the leader? Is that it?"

She didn't answer and I continued, "Look, Weiss. I doubt that Ozpin would have made a mistake. As far as I know, she, besides her uncle who is a teacher at Signal, is the only one who wields a scythe like that, let alone, mastered on how to use it. She may be only 15, but even the youngest can be as wise as the elders, because they're more open-minded, creative, and are able to learn from themselves and by others. She earned her position not as a mistake, but for a purpose, and that is unknown by us."

I gave another pause before continuing, "Back at the Capital Wasteland, the ruins of Washington D.C., which used to be the capital of the United States, I was only 18 years old when I joined a faction known as the Brotherhood of Steel, and only after a few days, I was promoted to a Star Paladin, which is a great honor."

Weiss then looked at me with an expression of surprise on her face as I continued...

"I have devoted my life to protect the ones who cannot protect themselves and the ones who are barely surviving day and night from Slavers, Raiders, Super Mutants, and even the last, corrupted remnants of the U.S. government known as the Enclave. I almost died a thousand times while I protected the innocent from those who want to enslave them and/ or kill them. Ruby is like me, Weiss. She is dedicated enough to do so as well, 'till the very end. Some leaders may be made, but sometimes there will be some who are born to be leaders. Yes, she acts like a child, but that's only because she is still a child, but she cares about you and the entire team, Weiss, and true leaders care for their teams, understand?" I concluded.

"Y-you're right, Edward. I guess she does deserve to be a leader." She pauses as she looked up to me and continued, "Thank you... for the talk."

I smiled and responded, "That's why I'm here, to help your teams to become better, not just in combat, but as well as to help you guys to understand each other."

She smiled back and said, "I'll go find Ruby and apologize to her."

"Of-course." I said as I nodded, watching her go and heard a voice behind me...

"That was quite the speech, you gave there, Edward."

I turned towards to see Ozpin, sipping from his coffee, as usual.

"How long were you there, Ozpin?" I asked.

"I heard everything. I'm glad that you are trying your best to keep the teams together." Ozpin said.

"I've also gone through what they're going through, right now. You made me a mentor, after all." I answered.

"That's the whole point of it. You have survived, endured, and learned from your years in the wastes that you have wandered. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and it still is." Ozpin said and paused to sip his coffee. He continued, "And... Teams RWBY and JNPR told me about your parents. I'm sorry."

"It's alright, you didn't know at the time. I should get going to my next class." I responded.

"Of-course. Have a nice day." Ozpin said.

To be Continued...


	12. Chapter 10: Friend to Faunas

**Chapter 10: Friend to Faunas**

 _Location: Beacon Academy, Vale Year: Unknown_

We were in Miss Goodwitch's class and she had made an announcement...

"Remember everyone! The Vytal Festival is only a few months away, and it won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing!"

I looked towards both teams RWBY and JNPR and they all are excited for this kind of festival. I chuckled and thought, ' _I have to admit, I'm actually excited myself._ '

"In the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale." Miss Goodwitch finished as the bell rings.

"Man, I'm starving!" I said.

The others gave out chuckles and giggles at my comment.

I looked toward the others and asked, "What?"

XXXXXX

' _at the cafeteria..._ '

"So... there we were... in the middle of the night..."

Ren interrupted Nora, "It was day..."

"We were surrounded by Ursai..."

"They were Beowolves..."

Then Nora stood up and said, "DOZENS OF THEM!"

"Two of them..."

"But they were no match and in the end... Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!"

All I did was face-palmed myself and Ren said, "She's been having this reoccurring dream for nearly a month now..."

But then Pyrrha spoke up, "Jaune... are you okay?"

"Uh?" Jaune asked.

"Hey Jaune, are you alright? You seemed out of it." I asked.

"Oh, Yeah! Why?" Jaune responded and asked.

Ruby spoke up, "It's just that you seem a little... not okay..."

"Eh, guys, I'm fine... seriously!" Jaune responded.

We then heard a commotion coming from another table. The sight of what I saw made me a little furious. A girl who was a rabbit Faunas was getting bullied by Cardin and his friends just because of the way she looks.

I got up and said, "Excuse me for a moment, I'm going to deal with some... ' _business_ '... that just came up."

I then put on my helmet and started walking over towards where the commotion was.

XXXXXX

' _Blake's POV..._ '

We looked towards the commotion and I gave a look of disgust and noticed Edward getting up and said, "Excuse me for a moment, I'm going to deal with some... ' _business_ '... that just came up."

We watch him put on his helmet and go towards the commotion and Yang said, "Oh, this should be good!"

XXXXXX

' _Back to Edward..._ '

I walk towards them and Cardin, the Faunas, and others noticed me and Cardin said, "Hey, check her out! ain't she a freak or what?" as he motions towards the Faunas.

I had my arms crossed and said in my most deathly tone, "Leave her alone or else."

Cardin got up and stood there, facing me, and asked, "Or else what?"

I stood there, not even flinching, glaring at him and said, "Or else you WILL regret it."

He laughed and said, "Are you serious?! This is going to be easy."

He throws a punch at me only for me to catch his fist and twisted his arm until it started to hurt him. His own team and even the Faunas girl was wide-eyed at my own reflexes and managed to counter him.

"OKAY, OKAY! I GIVE, I GIVE!" he shouted in pain.

He was on his knees when he started shouting in pain and I kneeled over and said, "If I ever hear any of you guys ever bully her *pointing at the Faunas* or anyone else, then expect me to come knocking at your door, understand?"

"Y-yes, si-sir." he managed to say.

"Good, now go!" I said as I let him go and the four of them left without hesitation.

I sighed, turned towards the Faunas girl, removed my helmet, and said to her in a more pleasant tone, "Sorry about that, I just couldn't sit there and let them bully you."

She looked at me in shock for a moment but quickly changed into a cheerful expression and responded, "Th-thank you so much! Usually people wouldn't stand up for Faunas like you have."

"Well, I'm someone different. My name is Edward Vaughn, the mentor of teams RWBY and JNPR." I said to her.

"My name is Velvet Scarlatina, member of Team CFVY. It's nice to meet you, Edward!" She said until realizing, "So, wait. You're a mentor?"

"Yeah, considering I'm the youngest Veteran in... maybe in all of history, for all I know." I said before I thought, ' _God, I hate lying like this, but Ozpin says to keep it a secret to everyone else._ '

Velvet's eyebrow raised and she asked, "Really? Then how old are you then?"

"15 years old." I answered plainly.

Her eyes widened and responded, "15 years old?!"

I nodded and then she asked, "Wow. Uhm... is it alright if I sit with you and the other teams?"

I smiled and said, "Sure! Why not. Come on, I bet the others want to meet you."

She grinned so big when I answered and we both went back to the table with teams RWBY and JNPR and I thought to myself, ' _I making friends left and right. This is indeed a day to remember of._ '

To be continued...


	13. Chapter 11: Aura

_**(NOTE: Again, I have made changes, though somewhat minor, to the previous chapters and even the Character Preview. So you can go back a skim through it, if you want and let me know what you guys think of it. Here is another chapter and I know it is short, but I will go back and add more content to it, so don't worry. I also hope you enjoy!)**_

 **Chapter 11: Aura**

 _Location: Beacon Academy, Vale Year: Unknown_

After a few minutes in the cafeteria, I, Velvet, and teams RWBY and JNPR was just having a good time, talking, until three students came up to us.

Velvet turned towards them and said with a smile, "Oh, hi guys!"

"Hi, Velvet. Making new friends, are we?" the one with sunglasses asked.

Velvet nodded and replied, "Yes, Coco. While I was being bullied by Cardin and his friends, he * _motions towards me_ * stood up for me."

"Oh, really?" ' _Coco_ ' replied. She then lowered her sunglasses as she turned towards me and asks, "So, what's your name?"

I replied, "Edward Vaughn, and you are?"

She grinned and answered, "Coco Adel, and this is Fox Alistair..."

She motioned towards Fox, who has dark red hair and dark skin. I also concluded that he is also blind due to him lacking any pupils, though still dangerous. Coco continued, "... and this is Yatsuhashi Daichi."

I look towards him and he was quite large, as in tall and somewhat buff; someone that I should not piss off.

Then Coco asks, "So... who's team are you on?"

I replied, "Actually, I'm the mentor to both teams here; RWBY and JNPR." Then both teams waved at team CFVY.

Then Coco grinned again and asked, "Oh, really? You guys mind if we sit with you?"

When I looked towards the teams, they all nodded in agreement. I then turned back and said, "Sure! Why not."

Then Velvet's team sat with us and the rest began to chat away as Coco asked me, "So, tell me; Why did you stand up for Velvet? Usually, everyone ignores and stay out of it, and I was wondering why?"

"Well, where I'm from, nobody cares for each other, as in ' _every man for themselves_ ', since it was a wasteland. But a few, who are vigilantes, like myself, actually stands up for the innocent and destroy all corruption like Raiders, Slavers, and the like. It's so dangerous there that not even the Grimm themselves dare to tread, not just because of the said enemies, but as well as the wildlife there. Plus, for me, I hate any and all discrimination of all kinds, so when I saw Velvet being bullied by that asshole, Cardin, and his dumbass friends, well, let's just say that my instincts kicked in, and I'm glad they did." I answered.

Coco smiled and nodded, replying, "Good to know."

But then Pyrrha asks me, "So, Edward, what's your Semblance?"

"Eh, Semblance? What's that?" I asked.

This surprised everyone at the table, then Blake asks, "Do you even know what Aura is?"

"Uhm... no." again, I answered.

The Ruby shouted, "How could you not know what ' _Aura_ ' is?!"

"Ruby, I am from the Wasteland, with everything and everyone wanting to kill either me or each other. Of-course, I don't know what this ' _Aura_ ' is." I deadpanned.

Then Jaune asks, "Then, how did you survive this long?"

I then pulled out a Stimpak in my hand and answered, "With this."

Weiss crossed her arms and gave an ' _are you serious_ ' look, asking, "With a needle?"

"A Stimpak; a hand-held medication used in healing the body. When the medicine is injected, it provides immediate healing of the body's minor and/or major wounds. So that means that I can use this to heal a broken limb and such, instantly." I answered.

I was then met with expressions of surprise from everyone. Then Blake asks, "What about if you've been poisoned?"

I then replaced the Stimpak with the Antivenom and replied, "With this Antivenom, which can cure any and all poisons."

Then Yang replied, "Wow, you are prepared for war, aren't you?"

Then I smiled and replied, "Now you are starting to know me. Besides, my durability is the one thing that keeps me going."

Then Yatsuhashi asks, "Really?"

"Yeah, I mean, come on; I have survived millions of headshots, been blown up multiple times, falling from very tall heights, being out-numbered and even out-gunned. Hell, believe it or not, I've been abducted by fucking Aliens, which I have killed all of them and took over their ship. Here's the proof * _as I pulled out the Alien Blaster_ *; an Alien Blaster." I said.

I showed them the weapon and they seemed to be shocked; some more than others.

Weiss then commented in shock, "I CAN'T believe this! H-how is this even possible!? I mean, come on, ALIENS?!"

"Trust me, Weiss, I've said that to myself when I was first abducted by them." I said before I put away the Blaster.

I then asked, "Okay, now tell me; What is this ' _Aura_ '?"

Pyrrha answered, "Aura is the manifestation of our soul. It bears our burdens and shields our hearts."

That kind of caught me by surprise. I replied, "Oh... that makes sense; like a force field. Cool, and what is this ' _Semblance_ '?"

Pyrrha answered, "It's the manifestation of one's innate and personal power; an ability unique to each individual that varies from user to user."

"Okay, give me some examples." I asked.

Ruby replies, "I can use my Semblance to move at speeds that can make me look like I'm teleporting."

Yang said, "I can use my Semblance to absorb energy from the damage I've taken, and redirect it at my target. In short, I become stronger after each hit I've taken."

Blake says, "I can make clones of myself out of shadow when I dodge out of the way. Like a decoy of such."

Then Weiss said, "And I am able to create Glyphs for propulsion, control motion, and such."

After team RWBY explained their Semblances, I started to get a good picture of it, and replied, "Oh, so it's like super powers. That's cool.

I then turned to Pyrrha and asked, "So, how can I unlock my Aura?"

Pyrrha smiled and said, "Actually, I can help you with that."

"Really?"

"Yes, though I need you to stand up." she replied.

"O-oh, okay..." I said as I slowly stood up.

The others looked towards at both of us as I asked, "Okay, now what?"

"Now close your eyes and concentrate." Pyrrha said.

"Uhm, okay..." I said as I closed my eyes and began to concentrate.

XXXXXX

' _3rd POV_ '

All of team's RWBY, JNPR, aside from Pyrrha, and CFVY watched as Pyrrha begins to unlock Edward's Aura...

" **For it is impassing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all.** "

Then Edward's aura starts to glow a bright sky blue as Pyrrha continues...

" **Infinite, and distanced, and unbound by death.** "

But then, a form of aura began to shape around Edward's back, then surprises everyone who is watching as his Aura finishes its form.

" **I release your soul. And by my shoulder protect thee.** " She finishes and became exhausted. She then looked up at Edward, and what she saw, shocked her.

XXXXXX

' _Back to Edward's POV..._ '

I opened my eyes and I was met with multiple faces of shock from all of them, even Pyrrha's. I asked out, "Is-is there something wrong?"

Pyrrha answered with a stutter, while she pointed something behind me, "Y-you have..."

I looked towards behind me, and saw a transparent sky blue aura of mine, shaping into large, feathered wings from my back. My eyes widened and said, "WOW! How..."

Ruby shouted out, "You have wings?!"

I then said, loud enough for everyone to hear, "Sweet Mary Mother of God... I've gained Angelic Wings? I didn't see that coming..."

Blake then asks me, "Angelic Wings?"

I then turned towards the rest, who was staring at me in surprise, and I replied, "Angelic Wings are wings that belong to Angels, servents and warriors of God and protectors of Heaven's Holy Light, which can make all matter of darkness flee from it in fear. They guide those of Humanity and Faunas kind on their paths in life, away from Sin, if possible. They uphold and protect the ones of pure hearts, like all of you guys, have. I guess the deeds I've done while my time in the Wasteland was the cause of this effect."

All of them were even more surprised after I stated it and Blake said, "Right, because your reputation back in the wastes did earn you the alias, ' _Messiah_ '. I guess it wouldn't be a surprise if your Aura made that effect."

Everyone else, aside from Yang, shouted in surprise, "Messiah?!"

The Yang followed in, "Yeah, and he has earned it by right, because he still considers himself as a vigilante, even now. The way I hear it; he has helped, aided, and protected the innocent while he fought against foes that out-numbered and out-gunned him. He even stated that he doesn't even do it for a reward, instead does it because it is what he says, in quote, ' _I just do what I believe what is truly right to do and help everyone who is struggling to survive every day and night, that's all._ ' So, at this point, it makes sense if his Aura does make that effect."

Everyone else followed along and nodded at what Yang has said. Then Pyrrha turned towards me and asks, "So, I guess you have already unlocked your semblance. Now what will you call it?"

Everyone turned towards me, waiting for my answer. I thought for a moment, then answered, "Heaven's Trinity."

XXXXXX

' _Ozpin's POV, moments before...'_

Me and Glynda came into the cafeteria just in time to see Miss Nikos unlocking Edward's Aura. As Edward's Aura begins to glow a bright sky blue, his Aura begins to form something around his back. After his Aura finished forming, it showed a pair of large, feathered wings, and everyone in the cafeteria was stunned at this anomaly.

I overheard Glynda commenting, "Oh my... I've never expected that his own Aura to give off that effect."

I replied, "Indeed. It may seem that there is more to this man than we thought."

I then thought to myself, ' _I wonder what his 'wings' represent..._ '

XXXXXX

' _Somewhere in Vale, in an abandoned warehouse..._ '

"What do you mean that there isn't any information about him?!" shouted Roman Torchwick. He was trying to find out about the ' _Mr. Mysterious_ ' that was with Miss Red on that night of the robbery.

"I MEAN that it seems he doesn't even exist; like he's some spook or something." answered a White Fang member.

"Well, keep searching; we might have missed something. I want to know who he is, if he has any connections like family or such."

"Yes, sir. On it." as the guy continues to search through the databases.

Roman came outside and light up a cigar, and then a voice of a woman came out, "Any luck on this mysterious man from that robbery, Roman?"

"None what's so ever. It appears that he is a spook of such. There are no files at all about him, or even relates to him. Like he doesn't even exists." Roman said.

The mysterious woman hummed and said, "This is interesting. Not only that, but he can somehow can pull out multiple weapons out of thin air. Whoever he is, he is definitely going to be part of the list."

Roman eyed her and asked, "A list of what?"

Then her eyes glowed as she answers, "To eliminate. He is obviously going to interfere with our plans. But we must be efficient and quietly about it."

She paused as she glared at Roman, and continued, "But one thing's for sure; he must be taken out, by any means necessary."

 _To be Continued..._


	14. Chapter 12: Secrets

**Chapter 12: Secrets**

 _Location: Beacon Academy, Vale Year: Unknown_

In all of my years in the Wasteland and even beyond, I have never met anyone who can speak so fast without stuttering. Although, he is also fast in movement, it doesn't surprise me much since Ruby can move as fast. Here I am, barely keeping up with our teacher, Professor Oobleck...

"Yes! Yes, prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution, more popularly known as the Faunus War, humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie."

I thought to myself, ' _This guy needs to lay off the coffee, or whatever he's on._ '

Oobleck continues, "Now! While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day!"

He pauses for a moment to take a sip of his coffee and asks out a question, "Now! Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?"

I look towards my right at Velvet as she slowly raises her hand.

"Dreadful, simply dreadful! Remember, students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence!" Oobleck responded.

Again, he pauses to take a sip, then said, "I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to the White Fang!"

The 'White Fang'. I heard from the news that they used to be a peaceful organization of Faunus until something made then turned to violence. I thought grimly to myself, ' _Humanity and their damn stubbornness and pride. It only breeds problems like wars._ '

"Now, which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorists believe to be the turning point in the third year of the war?" Oobleck asks.

Then I noticed Weiss raises her hand. Oobleck asks, "Yes?"

"The Battle at Fort Castle!" Weiss answers.

"Precisely!" Oobleck replies.

I raised an eyebrow and thought, ' _Fort Castle? That's... a strange name for a small, walled structure that is a fort after a quite larger structure that is a castle._ '

"And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?"

I then overheard Jaune muttering at Cardin, "Hey!"

"Mr. Arc!"

I glared at Cardin, who notices and glares back at me. ' _I swear, I'll gonna kill this fucker, but not today, though..._ '

"Finally contributing to class! This is excellent! Excellent!" Oobleck said.

I then leaned over to Velvet and whispered, "In case if Jaune answers wrongly; don't hold it against him since he did fell asleep and was just rudely awaken by Cardin."

Velvet nodded and I noticed Blake heard as well and she nodded as well.

"What is the answer?" Oobleck asks.

I began to think about the question for the answer; What advantage did the Faunus had over this General's army? Then it hit me; normal animals would have better hearing and would also have natural night vision, and since Faunus have animal traits, then they have night vision and better hearing, as well.

I grinned to myself and thought, ' _Thank you, Dad, Mr. Brotch, and Jonas..._ '

Then Jaune shouted out, "Um, B-binocular?!"

Then the whole class laughed, aside from me, Pyrrha, Weiss, Blake, and Velvet.

But I was most annoyed at Cardin and I thought, ' _I WILL kick his ass later..._ '

"Very funny, Mr. Arc... Cardin! Perhaps you would care to share your thoughts on the subject!"

Cardin replied, "Well, I know it's a lot easier to train an animal that a soldier."

Okay, at this point; I was about to let loose my anger on the asshole. Of course, Velvet noticed this and quietly says, "Hey, Edward. Breath, I know you don't like Cardin, but let's not get violent, please?"

I close my eyes and took deep breaths, then whispered, "Thanks, Velvet."

She smiles and replies, "Sure, anytime."

We then overheard Pyrrha saying to Cardin, "You're not the most open-minded of individuals, are you, Cardin?"

"What? You got a problem?"

I then turned around to him and said, "Yeah; my problem is YOU, Cardin..." I then turned to Oobleck and said, "...and I have the answer, Professor!"

Oobleck nodded and said, "Continue, Mr. Vaughn."

"Just like the animals like felines and such, Faunus have natural night vision that can help them see better at night, along with increase hearing, allowing them to hear more clearly than humans can. Like for example; if you blow a whistle that is so high pitch, that any normal humans can't hear, animals, like dogs, for example, are able to hear it much better. So that means that the Faunus were able to see and hear the General's army coming, even at night." I answered.

Then Blake commented, as if towards Cardin, "And perhaps if he'd paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure."

I then noticed Cardin, who's a little tense in anger, stands up and before Oobleck even spoke, I immediately throw a throwing knife at him, but missed him by an inch, next to his face. This stopped Cardin in his tracks and looked towards me.

I said in my death-tone voice, "If I were you, I would stay seated before I do anything that will make me regret later on."

I then walked up to him and retrieved my knife, while I glared at him with pure hatred, and went back to my seat.

Oobleck asked me, "Mr. Vaughn! Was that really necessary?"

"Yes; he was going to do something rash towards one of the students here and I can't have him do that, so I took action." I answered.

Oobleck nodded and said, "Very well! And your answer is correct, by the way."

I then overheard Jaune snickering and Oobleck said, "Mr. Winchester and Mr. Arc can both see me after class for additional readings."

"Ohh..." Jaune moaned.

"Now! Moving on!" Oobleck said.

XXXXXXX

' _After class..._ '

When we started to leave the classroom, I overheard Pyrrha saying, "You go on ahead. I'll wait for Jaune."

Her team nods and continues onward, along with team RWBY and Velvet. I then thought, ' _Might as well do the same; make sure Cardin doesn't do anything rash._ '

Pyrrha notices me and asks, "Aren't you going to go with them?"

"Actually, I'm staying, too. I'm going to make sure that Cardin doesn't do anything rash towards Jaune when they exit the class." I answered.

She nods as a reply and we both waited for Jaune. After a few minutes, a blur came out of the class, figured that it's Oobleck, and then Jaune came out and Cardin shoving him.

"OOHF! OW!" Jaune yelled.

While Pyrrha went towards to help Jaune, I went towards Cardin and punched him in the face. Cardin recoiled and held up his hand to his face, while glaring at me.

I the said to him, "Cardin, if you do that EVER again, then I will NOT hesitate to put a bullet between your eyes!" I glared at him with pure hatred once more and then said, "Now get the fuck out of here!"

Cardin growled and he went away. I turned towards Pyrrha and Jaune, who were staring at me in shock, and I asked, "Hey, Jaune, are you alright?"

"Yeah, thanks." Jaune replied.

Then Pyrrha asks me, "Did you mean it?"

"Mean what?"

"That you will kill him?" she asks.

I thought for a moment before replying, "As long as he doesn't do anything rash again, then I won't. But if he does, then you better hold me back with all of your strength, 'cause I will NOT hold back on him."

They both nodded and Pyrrha, "As long as you allow me to break his legs."

I cocked an eyebrow and said, "That's oddly specific..."

"Nora was the one who suggested it while you went to help Velvet from Cardin and his friends in the cafeteria." She said.

"Oh, well then afterward, I will shoot his broken legs for good measure." I said with a grin.

Then Jaune sighs, probably from our conversation, and then Pyrrha brightened up and says, "I have an idea!"

Jaune and I looked in confusion at her and then she began to drag Jaune, saying, "Here, come with me!"

"AAUHA!" was all that Jaune replied. I decided to follow them and shouted towards them, "Hey! Wait up!"

XXXXXX

We came outside on the balcony of such and they both started to stare at the tower, with its green, glowing orbs at around the top.

Jaune says, "Pyrrha, I know that I'm going through a hard time right now, but I'm not... THAT depressed."

Jaune began to look down at the edge and I began to pull him back, saying, "Jaune, I don't think Pyrrha wants you to commit suicide; she likes you too much to even suggest that."

After a moment of silence, Pyrrha said, "Jaune, I know you're having a difficult time in class and that you're still not the strongest of fighters, so..."

Pyrrha takes a deep breath and then said, "I want to help you!"

"W-what?" Jaune asks in confusion.

"We can train up here after class where no one can bother us!" Pyrrha said.

I grinned and followed with Pyrrha, "Hey, let me help, too. I can help with ways in combat as well. I done it before with a group of misfits and I ended up turning them into one of the most well-known squad within the New California Republic."

Pyrrha smiled and said to Jaune, "See? Even Edward wants to help, too!"

Then Jaune asks, "You guys think I need help?"

"N-no! No, that's not what we meant." Pyrrha said.

"But you guys just said it." Jaune said.

"Jaune, everybody needs a little push from time to time. It doesn't make you any different from the rest of us. You made it to Beacon, that speaks volumes of what you're capable of!" Pyrrha said.

"Yeah, you deserve to be here Jaune. all you need is a little push, just like Pyrrha just said." I said.

Jaune turned his back on us and said, "You're wrong... * _Sighs_ * I-I don't belong here."

Pyrrha replied, "That's a terrible thing to say, of course you do!"

Then Jaune snapped, "No, I don't!"

We both stared at Jaune before he continued, "I wasn't really accepted into Beacon."

"Wait, what do you mean, Jaune?" I asked.

"I mean, I didn't go to Combat School! I didn't pass any tests! I didn't earn my spot at this Academy!" Jaune said before turning towards us, then continued, "I lied! I got my hands on some fake transcripts and I lied."

"What? But, why?" Pyrrha asks.

Before Jaune could answer, I replied, "Is it because of your family's legacy? Is it because you want to prove that you are able to follow the path that your family had followed before?"

Jaune answers, "Yes! My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes! I just wanted to be one too, but I was never good enough."

Pyrrha was speechless and I stepped towards him and said, "Listen, Jaune! It doesn't matter if you were chosen to be here or not, you are here now. Look at me; I wasn't always this skilled in combat or anything else. I was like you, Jaune; unskilled, inexperienced, and unaware. But over time, you began to learn, not just your accomplishments, but as well from failures. Failures teaches you what you should not do and to do it differently. That is what we call ' _Life_ '. Life becomes a teacher; a teacher that shows us our flaws and help us fix them. All you need is help, Jaune!"

Jaune tries to push me away and says, "I do no-"

I interrupted Jaune, "Yes, you do, Jaune! Your stubbornness and your pride are the things keeping you from your future; from your dream! In order to look pass you pride and stubbornness, you must focus on your character; for it is not a title that makes you, it's not the success that makes you. Your character finds the success and finds the fame, and it starts right there, for there is one in the thousands of hours in the training room, running laps, 5 A.M. runs while everyone else is sleeping, that's when it's won. The heart of a champion is a light switch that's always on; it doesn't go on and off when someone's watching, it's constant. It's how you are able to do with the best of your abilities."

I paused as I noticed both Jaune's and Pyrrha's face in surprised expression. I then continued, "It is up to you to make your dreams come true. You ARE a warrior, Jaune! All warriors have to train constantly in order to become better, to be stronger, through successes and losses, for they are your lessons for you to learn to make yourself better. And not every warrior is ever alone. Even though I was known as the Lone Wanderer, I was always in company with friends that I met along my travels. You must let us help you, Jaune. Let us help you to become stronger."

Then Jaune snaps, "I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP! I WANT TO BE THE HERO, NOT A DAMSEL IN DISTRESS!"

Pyrrha began, "Jaune! I-"

Jaune interrupts, "I am tired of being the lovable idiot, stuck in a tree while his friends fight for their lives! Don't you guys understand!? If I can't do this on my own... Then what good am I?"

I then began, "Jaune, LISTEN-"

Again, Jaune interrupts, "No! I'm done talking to both of you! Just leave me alone."

He the marches off away from us and Pyrrha was about to go after him, shouting, "Jaune, wait!"

But I stopped her and I said, "No, Pyrrha. Let him go. He's going to have to learn this the hard way now. He will figure it out, eventually. All we can do is wait."

Pyrrha nodded and we began to head inside, and I thought to myself, ' _Damn it, Jaune! Why do you have to be so stubborn?_ '

To be Continued...


	15. Chapter 13: Forever Fall

**Chapter 13: Forever Fall**

 _Location: Beacon Academy, Vale Year: Unknown_

After the incident that night, Jaune was now more distant from his team and was hanging around with team CRDL more for some reason throughout the entire day. After Oobleck's class, I recieved a message on my Scroll from Ozpin to meet him in his office.

Of course, Blake and Weiss were with me and Blake asks, "Hey, what's the message say and who is it from?"

"It's from Ozpin and it says that he wants me to see him at his office." I answered.

Weiss raised her eyebrow and asks, "Wait, are you in trouble, Edward?"

"I haven't done anything wrong, so I doubt that. Must be something else, though I don't know what." I replied.

I sighed before saying, "I'll meet you guys later after I see Ozpin."

They both nodded and they head towards their dorm and I made my way to Ozpin's Office.

XXXXXX

' _Later..._ '

I stepped out of the elevator into Ozpin's office, where both Ozpin and Ms. Glynda Goodwitch waited. Ozpin was seated at his desk while Glynda stood next to him. Ozpin, of course, was holding his coffee, which made me think, ' _Does this guy ever drink anything else besides coffee?!_ '

Ozpin began, "Ah, Mr. Vaughn! I'm glad you came."

"I thought I said to drop the formalities and just call me by my first name. What is it that you wanted to see me?" I asked.

Of course, Edward. Well, I called you here to talk to you about something."

"Oh? And what's that?" I asked.

Ozpin then sighed and said, "Okay, first off: Why do you always wear your helmet?"

I realize that I'm still wearing my helmet and immediately took it off. I then gave a sheepish smile and said, "Sorry, it's a force of habit. The Wasteland was so dangerous that I have to always wear my helmet at all times, except when I need to eat and drink."

Ozpin smiled and replied, "That is understandable. Now, I asked you here so that we can talk about yesterday in the cafeteria."

I frowned and tensed up a little, and thought, ' _Cardin, I swear to God, if yo-_ '

My thoughts were interupted by Ozpin, who said, "It is about your Aura, Edward, but more than that. Your Aura gave an effect that formed your feathered wings."

I then eased up and then thought, ' _Nevermind, then._ '

"All we want is to find out why it caused this effect. Do you know why?" Ozpin asked me.

I answered, "It's probably due to the amount of good deeds I've done during my days in the Wasteland."

"Oh? And what makes you think that?" Ozpin asked.

"Well, let me explain about one of the old religions that was around before the bombs fell: Christianity."

I noticed both Ozpin and Glynda had raised their eyebrow, and I continued, "Our creator, God, made our world, Earth, in 7 days, as well as Heaven, then created all life upon it. Heaven is ruled by him and there are beings that serve him, known as Angels."

I then noticed that both of them are listening carefully as I continued, "Angels are servents to God, as well as warriors, and guard and protect Heaven's Holy Light, which can make all darkness cower in fear. They also guide and protect people as their Guardian Angels, though indirectly. God forbade them to help out humanity, since we are suppose to do things ourselves. But they do protect and guide us by keeping what evil craves, known as Sin. Sins are deeds that are bad and will cause dire consequences. In any case, Angels are suppose to be the Warriors of Light, and fight off the forces of darkness."

When I finished, Glynda then asks, "Okay, what's all of that supposed to do with the effect that your Aura gave?"

"Well, you see, Angels looks exactly like a human, only a slight difference." I said.

Again, they both raised their eyebrows, and I continued, "Aside from the floating golden halo ring above their head, they have large, feathered wings on their backs and are white as snow."

Both Ozpin's and Glynda's eyes widdened as I then explained, "Of-course, Angels are also made when a human being dies, and their soul then receives judgment from God on what that person did in his or her entire life. If his souls is completely tainted and is filled with greed, hatred, and filled with Sins that the person does not regret, then they are sent to Hell, where all manner of darkness calls home, and become Demons. But if a person is pure and is full of righteousness, joy, and a small amount of Sin, as well as a neutral person, would be sent to Heaven, which is a paradise with no chaos, no hatred, no pain, and where we can never grow old, and become Angels. But, of-course, if the person is filled with so much Sins of murder and such, and regrets it all, then they are forgiven by God and are redeemed."

Ozpin's and Glynda's eyes are still wide as Glynda asks, "So, you're saying that-"

"That I have been deemed to be a living Angel, then yeah, I guess. I have made myself quite a reputation among the people of the Wasteland. To my enemies, I am known as the Angel of Death, but to allies and the innocent, I am known as the Messiah. In short, I have become a Legend throughout the entire Wasteland and maybe beyond." I said.

Ozpin and Glynda are quite shock at my reputation. After a moment of silence, Ozpin asks, "I see, so your wings represent everything pure, righteousness, and as well as the light within darkness, shining bright and strong even when darkness suround you?"

I nodded and said, "You are correct."

Both Glynda and Ozpin glanced at each other, then turned towards me and Ozpin said, "Thank you. You can head back to your dorm and rest up. You do have a field trip to the Forever Falls tomorrow, afterall."

I nodded and and replied, "You're welcome, sir. Good night."

And with that, I headed towards to the elevator and begin my way to my dorm.

XXXXXX

' _Ozpin's POV..._ '

After Edward left, Glynda said to me, "Edward is quite a unique person. For once, I don't know what to say."

"Same here, Glynda. But we now know what he did before he arrived here, and puts my mind at ease, knowing that he won't do anything violent without reason." I responded.

I noticed that Glynda raised an eyebrow at me and asks, "Why do I have a feeling that you already knew?"

"Well, yes, I already knew, just wasn't too sure without any proof." I answered.

Glynda nods as I take a sip of my coffee, then continued, "For now, though, we will continue a careful eye on him, and see which lives he will change."

XXXXX

' _Edward's POV, the next day at the Forever Fall..._ '

Okay, it's official; I'm never leaving this world, no way, no how. The reason why is because the Forever Fall is so god damn beautiful! The trees here are in a shade of red, and slowly, the leaves fall, making the scenery very peaceful.

I muttered out loud, "Oh my God... this place is beautiful."

I then heard Blake say, "We thought you might say that."

Then Ms. Goodwitch spoke as we walk, "Yes students, the Forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful, but we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peaches asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest and I'm here to make sure that none of you die while doing so."

I grinned and thought, ' _If it were that easy to kill me, but it isn't hard either. There were enemies that were over-powered, like Legate Lanius for example._ '

We then stopped when Glynda stopped and turned towards us. I heard a couple of grunts followed by whistling.

Glynda then continues, "Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap..."

I continued to grin and thought, ' _Sounds easy enough, but..._ '

"...however, this forest is full of creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates.

I then thought, ' _...and there it is. But still easy enough, since I've done all kinds of samples that I needed to gather before._ '

"We will rendezvous back here at four o'clock. Have fun!" Glynda finishes.

I then heard Cardin say, "C'mon, buddy! Let's go."

I turned around and saw that Cardin was talking with Jaune. I slowly shook my head and continued with teams RWBY and JNPR, aside from Jaune.

I thought, ' _Let's hope Jaune will change his mind soon..._ '

XXXXXX

' _3rd POV, few minutes later..._ '

While Cardin and his friends chilled, Jaune returned with six jars filled with red sap. Jaune carefully dropped the jars and fell to the ground in exhaustion.

"Hey. Great work, Jauney boy. Now that wasn't too hard, was it?" Cardin asked.

"I think I'm allergic to this stuff..." Jaune replied.

"Great, great, great. So, Jaune, I bet you're asking yourself, ' _why did my buddy, Cardin, ask me to collect six jars of_ sap _when there's only five of us?_ '" Cardin stated.

"That is one of the many questions that I asked myself today, yes." Jaune replied as he got back to his feet.

"Well, come with me and you'll find out." Cardin said.

Jaune says before he gulped was, "Oh..."

XXXXXX

' _Few seconds later..._ '

Team CRDL and Jaune came up to a small cliff and watched as teams RWBY and JNPR, along with Edward, collecting the red tree sap.

Jaune asks, "Cardin, what's going on?"

A brief moment of silence and Cardin answeres, "Payback."

Jaune looks in the direction that Cardin looking at and asks, "Pyrrha?"

"No, Edward." Cardin replied.

Again, a brief moment of silence and Cardin spotted Edward and said, "There he is, that helmet-wearing know-it-all thinks he so tough."

He pauses as he takes out a box full of Rapier Wasps and continues, "Alright, boys. Last night, ol' Jaune here managed to round up an entire box of Rapier Wasps, and now, we're gonna put 'em to work."

Jaune made a nervous laugh as Cardin continues, "Now, according to one of the essays he wrote for me last week, these nasty things looove sweets. I'm thinkin' it's time we teach him a thing or two."

Then all of them stood up and Cardin shoves one of the jars into Jaune and said, "And you're gonna do it."

Jaune asks, "Do what?"

"Hit him with the sap! Either that, or I'll have a chat with Goodwitch, and you'll be on the first airship out of Beacon." Cardin said.

For a moment, Jaune looks at the jar before glancing up to Cardin and his friends. Jaune turned and then readied himself to throw the jar at Edward, who was analyzing his jar filled with red sap. He had a choice: Either do what Cardin says and lose, not just one friend, but all of them, or be shipped out of Beacon.

Jaune then remembered what Edward said to him that night...

* _Flashback_ *

 _"Listen, Jaune! It doesn't matter if you were chosen to be here or not, you are here now. Look at me; I wasn't always this skilled in combat or anything else. I was like you, Jaune; unskilled, inexperienced, and unaware. But over time, you began to learn, not just your accomplishments, but as well from failures. Failures teaches you what you should not do and to do it differently. That is what we call 'Life'. Life becomes a teacher; a teacher that shows us our flaws and help us fix them. All you need is help, Jaune!"_

 _Jaune tried to push Edward away and says, "I do no-"_

 _Edward interrupted Jaune, "Yes, you do, Jaune! Your stubbornness and your pride are the things keeping you from your future; from your dream! In order to look pass you pride and stubbornness, you must focus on your character; for it is not a title that makes you, it's not the success that makes you. Your character finds the success and finds the fame, and it starts right there, for there is one in the thousands of hours in the training room, running laps, 5 A.M. runs while everyone else is sleeping, that's when it's won. The heart of a champion is a light switch that's always on; it doesn't go on and off when someone's watching, it's constant. It's how you are able to do with the best of your abilities."_

 _Edward paused when he notices that both Jaune's and Pyrrha's face in surprised expression. He then continued, "It is up to you to make your dreams come true. You ARE a warrior, Jaune! All warriors have to train constantly in order to become better, to be stronger, through successes and losses, for they are your lessons for you to learn to make yourself better. And not every warrior is ever alone. Even though I was known as the Lone Wanderer, I was always in company with friends that I met along my travels. You must let us help you, Jaune. Let us help you to become stronger."_

* _Flashback ends_ *

Jaune closes his eyes and lowered the jar and said, "No."

"What did you say?" Cardin asks.

"I said..." Jaune then throws the jar at Cardin.

After the jar broke and Cardin's armor was covered in red sap, Cardin then chuckled and said, "Oh-ho-ho, you've done it now."

Then Cardin's friends took hold of Jaune, who let out a nervous laugh and it was at this moment, that Jaune knew... he fucked up. _**(Couldn't resist doing it, Sorry)**_

Cardin punched Jaune and Jaune fell. Then Cardin picked up Jaune and punched him again to the ground, and said, "You know that wasn't very smart, Jaune-y boy."

Cardin again picks up Jaune and says, "I'm gonna make sure they send you back to mommy in teeny, tiny, pieces."

"I don't care what you do to me, but you're not messing with not just my team, but also my friends." Jaune said.

"What, you think talk like that makes you tough? You think you're a big strong man now?" Cardin asks.

All Jaune responded was a grin. Cardin growled and punches Jaune, but something happened. Cardin hurt his hand when he attempted to punch Jaune. Jaune looks at himself and realizes that his Aura deflected his punch. But then one of Cardin's friends kicks him from behind and Jaune was on his hands.

Jaune then glares at team CRDL as Cardin says, "Let's see how much of a man you really are."

But then a roar erupted from behind team CRDL. As CRDL turned to the source, they were met with a large Ursa, which growled at them. All of them have shown their expressions of fear as the large Ursa moved forward upon them. The Ursa then stood up on its hind legs and began to sniff the air. It then turned its gaze upon Cardin, who has the red sap on him. It then went back on all fours and roared at them.

Cardin's friends begins to flee, while one of them shouted, "That's a big Ursa!"

Only Cardin and Jaune stayed, and Cardin was the first one to get swatted by the Ursa. Jaune, who was still sitting on the ground, flinches when Cardin was swatted and then looks up at the Ursa. Although, the Ursa ignores Jaune and goes after Cardin. Cardin pulls out his mace, only for the Ursa to swat it out of his hand and the mace landed in front of Jaune.

XXXXXXX

' _Edward's POV.._ '

While I was still collecting more of the red sap in my second jar, a loud roar erupted close by. My head jerks toward the direction of the sound and thought, ' _Oh, shit._ '

"Did you guys hear that?" Ruby asked out.

But then Cardin's friends came running from the same direction, while one with a light green mohawk yelled repeatedly, "Ursa! Ursa!"

Then he bumps into Yang and grabs hold of him, and she asks, "What? Where?"

He points back behind him and says, "Back there! It's got Cardin!"

I heard Pyrrha dropping her jar and said, "Jaune!"

Then Ruby took action, "Yang! You and Blake, go find Professor Goodwitch."

Then Pyrrha said to Ren and Nora, "You two, go with them! There could be more."

I then pull out my ' _Medicine Stick_ ' and said, "Well, let's go and take down an Ursa!"

Ruby, Pyrrha, Weiss, and I began to run towards where Jaune and Cardin are at, as well as an Ursa.

After a few seconds or so, we arrived at the scene and Cardin was definitely getting his ass kicked by an Ursa, a large one at that. I then noticed that Cardin had that red sap on his chest piece, which could explain why this Ursa was completely focused on him.

I overheard Pyrrha, "Oh no."

Then the Ursa swiped at Cardin, only to be deflected by Jaune's block.

Weiss was about to strike until Pyrrha said, "Wait."

Then Jaune swung his sword and staggered the Ursa. Then it swung at Jaune who dodge immediately, and again, until the Ursa landed a blow on him, tossing him back. Jaune landed on his feet and charged head-on at the Ursa. Again, the Ursa landed a blow, which tossed Jaune back.

As both Jaune and the Ursa confronted each other, Jaune let out his battle cry as he charged at the Ursa, while it did the same. For a moment, everything seemed like everything slowed down. As the Ursa swiped at Jaune, he blocked it and he swung his sword, decapitating it. Although, Pyrrha had done something, which caught all of our attention.

"Uh, what." Ruby stated.

"How did you..." Weiss asked.

I then asked Pyrrha, "How the hell did you do that?"

Pyrrha answers, "Well, Ruby has her speed, Weiss has her glyphs, you have your Heaven's Trinity, my Semblance is polarity."

Ruby responded, "Ah, you can control poles."

"No Ruby, it means that she can control magnetism, like magnets and such." I corrected her.

"Magnets are cool, too." Ruby said.

I then thought, ' _Huh, so that's how she won every spar match. Clever._ '

Then Pyrrha started to leave until Weiss asks, "Wait, where are you going?"

Ruby follows, "Yeah, we gotta tell them what happened."

"We could, or..." Pyrrha trails off as she looked towards me.

I then realize what she's going at and I followed up, "...Or, perhaps, we could just keep it our little secret."

Pyrrha nodded and she wanders off. I then looked towards at Jaune as he walked up to Cardin, and offered a hand. To my surprise, Cardin actually accepted it and not waved it off like an asshole he was.

We then overheard Cardin saying, "Holy crap, Jaune?"

Then Jaune says to Cardin a warning, "Don't ever mess with my team, my... friends, ever again."

Then a brief moment of silence and Jaune asks, "Got it?"

Cardin didn't reply, though from being speechless, as Jaune walks away. Cardin looks towards at me and the others. All I gave was a look and then walked away, thinking that he deserved enough punishment, for now though, 'cause I still hate the bastard for discriminating against Faunas kind.

XXXXXX

' _Back at the Academy..._ '

Me and Pyrrha went to look for Jaune and we went to the balcony to see if he's there. Sure enough, he was, staring out towards the tower. Me and Pyrrha walked next to him and Pyrrha asks him, "No Cardin tonight?"

I asked, "Yeah, aren't you two best buds, Jaune?"

The Jaune turned to both of us and said, "Pyrrha, Edward, I'm sorry. I was a jerk. You guys were only trying to be nice and... I-I had all this stupid macho stuff in my head-"

Then Jaune was interrupted by Pyrrha, who said, "Jaune. It's okay."

"Yeah, Jaune. It's alright. Everyone has that moment in their life. Trust me, I know." I said before I thought, ' _Vault 101... ah, the good ol' days..._ '

Jaune smiled at our responses and Pyrrha continues, "Your team really misses their leader, you know."

Then she began to walk away from us, saying, "You should come down. Ren made pancakes." She sung around the word ' _pancakes_ '.

She then said, "No syrup, though, you can thank Nora for that."

"Wait!" Jaune shouted out towards her. Pyrrha turns towards us as Jaune continues...

"I know I don't deserve it after all that happened, but would both of you still be willing to help me? To help me become a better fighter."

I grinned at this and thought, ' _It looks like he's learning..._ '

Pyrrha walked back to us and shoved Jaune down, which caught Jaune by surprise. It also caught me by surprise as well, since I wasn't expecting it to happen.

"H-hey!" Jaune responded.

"Your stance is all wrong. You need to be wider and lower to the ground." Pyrrha said.

I sighed and thought, ' _That was so uncalled for, but, at least, she's agreeing._ '

Then Pyrrha helped Jaune up and said, "Let's try that again."

I grinned at this joined in with Pyrrha to help train Jaune.

To be Continued...

 _ **(Note: Sorry if the beginning part of this chapter seemed a little preachy, but sometimes, I tend to carry away at times. Aside from that, I hope you enjoy!)**_


	16. Chapter 14: Salutations

**Chapter 14: Salutations**

 _Location: City of Vale Year: Unknown_

The weekend is almost here and I went with team RWBY for the tour of Vale. We even noticed that the townsfolk were decorating for the Vytal Festival, even the old man who owns the store when I first arrived here.

"The Vytal Festival! Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!" Weiss said in excitement.

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss." Ruby said before she shudders, "It's kinda weirding me out..."

Weiss turned to Ruby and asked, "How could you NOT smile? A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dance, parades, a tournament! Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breath taking."

Yang sighed as we continue to walk and said, "You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring."

I raised my eyebrows and said, "A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world? Even before the bombs fell, there were no festivals that does such a thing like this in my world, except for the Olympics, I guess."

All of them look at me and Weiss asks, "Why?!"

"Because there were 196 countries in my world and it's hard to keep track of all of those cultures at once." I answered, which they gave me a surprise look.

Blake said, "196 countries? Was your world that separate?"

I nodded and said, "Yep, I'm afraid so."

We then arrived at the docks and heard a boat horn. Yang then asks, "Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks?"

Then Ruby grabbed her own nose and said, "Ugh, they smell like fish."

"I don't smell anything." I said.

Ruby then said, "That's because you're wearing your helmet!"

"Oh, right..." I replied.

The Weiss answered Yang, "I've heard that students from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today."

Weiss then spun around and continued, "And as a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom."

Then Blake said, "She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament."

"Ah! You can't prove that!"

I then noticed the same store where Ruby and I first met and it looked like it was robbed. I tapped on Ruby's shoulder and asked, "Hey, Ruby. Isn't that the same store where we first met?" as I pointed to it.

She then looked and said, "Woah."

Then Yang, Blake, and Weiss came over to see. We then walked towards it and I asked to one of the detectives, "Uh, sir. What happened here?"

"Robbery. Second Dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle."

Yang scoughs and said, "That's terrible."

We then overheard another detective saying, "They left all the money again."

I then Ruby saying, "Huh?"

"Yeah, doesn't make a lick of sense. Who needs that much Dust?"

"I dunno, ya know what I mean?"

"You thinking the uh, White Fang?"

"Ya I'm thinking we don't get paid enough."

I then see Weiss crossing her arms and said, "Hmph. The White Fang. What an awful bunch degenerates."

I then said, "Woah! Shots fired. That was not necessary, Weiss."

Then Blake asks scoldingly, "Yeah, not necessary. What is your problem?"

"My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane." Weiss said.

Blake then said, "The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths. They're a collection of misguided Faunus."

"Misguided?! They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet!" Weiss said.

"Gee, I wonder why?" I asked sarcastically mixed with annoyance.

Weiss then asked, "What?"

"I bet why they want that is because of the discrimination that the human race throws at them. In fact, because of humanity discriminating against Faunus kind, that the White Fang turned to violence in the first place."

Then Blake smiled at me at what I just said and she said, "See, even he thinks they're misguided and he does have a point."

but then she turned back to the shop and said, "But it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale."

Then Ruby cut in, "Hmm, Blake's got a point."

I then followed in, "Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick asshole that Ruby and I ran into a few months ago, and maybe it was him, 'cause I saw him only taking the Dust instead of the money before."

Weiss then said, "That doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum. Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal."

Then Yang said, "That's not necessarily true."

Then we heard back at the docks someone yelling, "Hey! Stop that Faunus!"

We then ran back to the docks and saw two guys chasing a stowaway, who revealed to be a monkey Faunus.

"Thanks for the ride guys!" and let out a chuckle.

he then jumped into the docks off the ship and ran off. Then one of the sailors yell out, "You no-good stow-away!"

Then the Faunus hanged by his tail with a banana and yelled back, "Hey! A 'no-good' stowaway would have been caught. I'm a great stow-away."

Then the two same detectives walked up and said, "Hey, get down from there this instant."

Then the Faunus throws his banana peel at him and landed on his face. I immediately laugh at this and the rest looked at me.

I then asked, "What? That was funny."

Weiss then scoulded and saw the Faunus leaped into the air and ran off, being chased by the detectives. then the Faunus ran by us and... winked at Blake?

I then muttered, "That mad genius..."

Then Yang said, "Well Weiss, you wanted to see the competition and there it goes."

The Weiss immediately said, "Quick! We have to observe him!"

The Weiss ran off and Ruby and Yang followed. Blake just stood there and I asked her, "Love at first sight, Blake?"

"Sh-shut up!" Blake says as she blushes.

"I'm not teasing, just asking." I said.

She smiles and nods before we ran after them. After a few corners, Weiss ran into someone and falls over.

Weiss then looks up at the fleeing Faunus and jumped out of sight.

"No! He got away!" Weiss shouted.

I then noticed the ginger hair girl, still pinned to the ground by Weiss and said to her, "Uh, Weiss? You're still on top of someone."

Weiss looks down and she immediately gets up and yells, "Euh!"

The girl still laid there as she greeted with a smile, "Salutations!"

"I like her already; very cheerful and kind." I said.

"Um... hello." Ruby said.

"Are you... okay?" Yang asks.

The girl, who is still laying there, replies, "I'm wonderful. Thank you for asking."

I then asked, "Do you want to get up or what?"

"Yes!" she said before she kicks up her feet and gets up.

Team RWBY steps back while I stayed there. ' _What's the matter with them?_ '

"My name is Penny. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Hi Penny, I'm Ruby."

"I'm Weiss."

"Blake"

I then said, "Edward Vaughn, nice to meet you, Penny."

"Are you sure you didn't hit your he-" Yang said before I elbowed her.

"Oh, I'm Yang."

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny said.

"You already said that." Weiss said.

"So I did!"

Then Weiss apologizes, "Well, sorry for running into you.

Then Ruby waves and said, "Take care, friend!"

I then said, "See ya around, Penny!"

We then walked away in silence for a few seconds before Yang said, "She was... weird."

"I wouldn't say that. I actually enjoyed her company." I said.

Then Weiss said, "Now, where did that Faunus riff-raff run off to?"

We then stopped when Penny stood there in front of us.

I was confused at this and started to pointed back behind us and to her, asking, "Wha... How did you? why-oh, forget it."

"What did you call me?" Penny asked.

I then noticed Weiss started doing the same thing I did while Yang said, "Oh, I'm really sorry, I definitely didn't think you heard me."

"No, not you.." she pauses and walks over to Ruby, who was next to me, and she said to her, "You."

"Me?!" Ruby panicked.

"I-I don't know, I-what I- um, uh-" Ruby started to stutter until Penny interupted her.

"You called me ' _friend_ '. Am I really your friend?" Penny asks.

"Uummm..." Ruby started as she looks towards her team, who are definitely saying ' _NO_ ' and she then looked towards me. I simply nodded ' _yes_ '.

"Yeah, sure! Why not?" Ruby answered.

Then Yang, Weiss, and Blake fell over to the ground as Penny gets excited.

she cheered with a laugh, "Ahaha! Sen-sational! We can paint our nails, try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!"

"Ooh, is this what it was like when you met me?" Ruby asked Weiss as she and the others get up.

"No, she seems ' _far_ ' more coordinated."

I shrugged and said, "Meh, I had worse. I've met crazier people before."

Then Penny looks at me with a hurt expression, which made me add, "Which I don't mind at all. I actually enjoy the company."

Penny quickly changed to a happy expression and said, "Yay! I've got two new friends!"

Yang asks, "Really? who's crazier than her?"

"Veronica, even with a power fist. She's with the Brotherhood of Steel." I answered.

"Oh." Yang said.

Penny then asks me, "Who is this ' _Brotherhood oh Steel_ '?"

I answered, "Oh, they are a collection of warriors that scavenge and hunt down any and all lost technology in the wastes and if they turned out to be weapons of mass destruction, then they make sure it will never falls into the wrong hands."

"Ooh, sen-sational! What an honorable cause!" Penny cheered.

I smiled and thought, ' _I thought she might like that._ '

Then Yang asks Penny, "So, what are you doing in Vale?"

"I'm here to fight in the tournament."

Then Weiss asks, "Wait... you're fighting in the tournament?"

She then salutes and replies, "I'm combat ready!"

Then Weiss says, "Forgive me, but you hardly look the part."

"Says the girl wearing a dress. But looks can be deceaving." I said.

"It's a ' _combat skirt_ '." Weiss said.

Then Ruby zoomed next to her and replies, "Yeah!" as both High-fived each other.

"Wait a minute. If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed rapscallion?"

I sighed and muttered, "Here we go again. I'm not in the mood for this shit."

Penny asks, "The who?"

Then Weiss pulls out a paper of her drawing of the Monkey-Faunus and said, "The filthy Faunus from the boat!"

' _Okay, she's beginning to become the new Cardin... FUCK!_ ' I thought to myself.

"Why do you keep saying that?!" Blake asks in anger.

' _Oh shit, here we go..._ ' I thought again.

"Huh?" Weiss asks.

"Stop calling him a rapscallion. Stop calling him a degenerate. he's a person!" Blake yelled.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like me to stop referring to a trashcan as a trashcan, or this lamppost as a lamppost?"

"Stop it!" Blake said.

"Stop what? He clearly broke the law. Give him time, he'll probably join up with those other Faunus in the White Fang."

I tighten up my fists as Blake did the same and I growled.

Blake then growls, "You ignorant little brat!" and she marches off.

I then walked to Weiss and said, "Weiss, keep talking like that and I'll make sure you'll end up like Cardin."

Her eyes widdened at my response and went after Blake yelling, "Hey! Wait up!"

XXXXXX

' _Back at the Academy..._ '

I was in RWBY's dorm as me, Yang and Ruby watched as Weiss and Blake argued.

"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem."

"That IS the problem!" Blake said.

"You do realize you're defending an organization that hates humanity, don't you? The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil."

"There's no such thing as ' _pure evil_ '! Why do you think they hate humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin, people like YOU that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!" Blake yells.

"People like me?!"

"You're disctrimintory!" Blake yells.

"I'm a victom!" weiss yells.

Then a moment of silence came. This caught us by surprise, especially me. I wasn't expecting this. Weiss continues, "You want to know WHY I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particulary trust the Faunus?"

Then Weiss walks up to the open window and said, "It's because they've been at war with my family for years. War. As in actual bloodshed. My grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back faor as long as I can remember. and ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends disappear, board members executed, an entire train car of Dust... stolen. And every day, my father would come home furious, and that made a very difficult childhood."

I then walked up to Wiess and muttered to, "Shit... * _sigh_ * I forgotten there is always stories on both sides, but that doesn't mean that-"

"No!" Weiss shouted.

She then turned to Blake and said, "You want to know why I despise the White Fang?! It's because they're a bunch of liars! Thieves! And murderers!"

Then Blake yelled, "Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!"

The a moment of silence came and I thought to myself, ' _Shit... I knew she is a Faunus, but..._ '

"I-" Blake stuttered and ran out of the room.

Ruby shouted "Blake! Wait! Come back!"

I then turned to Weiss and said, "When I return, you and I are going to have a very harsh talk."

Before she says anything, I immiedietly ran out the room after Balke and shouted to her, "Blake! Wait up!"

To be Continued...


	17. Chapter 15: White Fang

**Chapter 15: White Fang**

 _Location: Beacon Academy, Vale Year: Unknown_

"Blake! Wait up!" I yelled to her.

I went to chase her because of what her and Weiss argued. Turns out, Blake used to be with the White Fang, but it doesn't matter. I need to find her and put an end to her past demons so she can live in the present in peace. It's been a little while since I went after Blake and I found her in front of the statue without her bow, crying.

' _Poor Blake..._ ' I thought to myself before I walked up to her.

I then laid my hand on her shoulder, startling her and I replied, "Easy now. Let it out. I'm here for you, Blake."

She then asks, "Aren't you going to say something cruel about me?"

"No." I answered

She then looked at me with a surprised expression as I continued, "It doesn't matter who you used to work with or who you used to be, all that matters is who you are right now, and NOTHING is going to make me change my view of you, Blake."

Blake then smiled weakly, knowing that she has a friend that still cares about her.

Then out of the blue, a voice said, "I knew you look better without out the bow, and who's that with you?"

We both turned to see the same Monkey Faunus from before on the lamppost.

XXXXXX

' _After some time in Vale..._ '

Here we are, having tea with Sun, the Monkey Faunus, and then Blake finally spoke up, "So... you wanna know more about me?"

"Finally, she speaks!" Sun said.

"Yeah, it's been a while." I said.

"Nearly two days and you've given us nothing but small talk and weird looks." Sun said.

Then Blake frowned at him and Sun said, "Ya! Like that."

Then Blake asks, "Sun... are you familiar with the White Fang?"

"Of course! I don't think there's a Faunus on the planet who hasn't heard of them. Stupid, holier-than-thou creeps that use force to get whatever they want. A bunch of freaks if you ask me." Sun said.

"I was... once a member of the White Fang." Blake said, which made Sun choked and coughed from his tea.

"Wait a minute, YOU were a member of the White Fang?" Sun asked.

"That's right. I was a member for most of my life actually. You could almost say I was born into it. Back then, things were different. In the ashes of war, the White Fang was meant to be the symbol of peace and unity between Humans and the Faunus. Of course, despite being promised equality, the Faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate. Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings. A rose nd so, the White Fang rose up as a voice of our people. And I was there. I was at the front of every rally. I took part in every boycott. and I actually thought we were making a difference... but I was just a youthful optimist..." Blake explained.

Me and Sun listened as Blake told her story and I thought to myself, ' _No matter where I go, discrimination always lingers somewhere..._ '

Then Blake continued, "Then, five years ago, our leader stepped down, and a new one took his place. A new leader, with a new way of thinking. Suddenly our peaceful protests were being replaced with organized attacks. We were setting fire to shops that refused to serve us. Hijacking cargo from companies that used Faunus labor. And the worst part was? It was working. We were being treated like equals. But not out of respect... out of fear. So, I left. I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence. And instead, I would dedicate my life to becoming a Huntress. So here I am. A criminal hiding in plain view. All with the help of a little, black bow."

Then Sun asks, "So... have you told your friends any of this?"

She shook her head and said, "No, except with Edward here. He actually treats both Faunus and Humans as equals, out of respect. That's why he's with us."

Then both of them looked towards me and simply nodded my head.

XXXXXX

' _3rd POV..._ '

"Blaaake?!" Ruby shouted.

Then Yang shouted, "Edward?!

"Blaaake?! Edward?! Where are you guys?!" Ruby shouted.

Then Yang shouted while Weiss did nothing. Ruby then said, "Weiss, you're not helping!"

"Oh! You know who might be able to help? The police." Weiss replies.

Then Ruby scolds, "Ugh. Weiss..."

"It was just an idea!" Weiss said.

The Ruby replies, "Yeah, a bad one."

Then Yang said, "Weiss, I think we should hear her side of the story before we jump to any conclusions. Why do you think that Edward sided with Blake?"

"I think when we hear it, you'll all realize I was right." Weiss said.

Then Penny said while she came out of nowhere, "And I think Weiss' hair looks wonderful today!"

Ruby then screamed as the three of them turned towards Penny, "Agh! Penny! Where did you come from!?"

Penny waved and said, "Hey guys. What are you up to?"

All Ruby replied was, "Uuuhhhhh..."

The Yang answers, "We're looking for our friends, Edward and Blake.

"Oooh! Aside from Edward, you're looking for the Faunus girl!" Penny said.

Then the three of them blinked until Ruby asks, "Wait. How did you know that?"

"Uh, the cat ears?" Penny answered.

"What cat ears? She wears a... bow..." Yang says as she realizes.

Then out of nowhere, a tumbleweed came by. The Ruby says, "She does like Tuna a lot..."

Then Penny asks, "So, where are they?"

"We don't know. They've been missing since Friday." Ruby said.

Then Penny gasps and walks over to Ruby and said, "That's terrible! Well, don't you worry Ruby, my friend! I won't rest until we find your teammates."

"Uh, that's really nice of you Penny, uh, but we're-we're okay. Really. Right, guys?" Ruby responds and looked towards her teammates, only te see them gone. Then the same tumbleweed came back by them.

Then Penny said, "It sure is windy today."

XXXXXX

 _'Back to Edward's POV..._ '

Blake, Sun, and I were strolling along and Sun asks, "So, what's the plan now?"

"I still don't believe the White Fang is behind these robberies. They've never needed this much dust before." Blake said.

"What if they did? I mean... the only way to prove that they didn't do it, is to go to the place where they would most likely go to if they were to do it, and not find them there... right?" Sun concluded.

I then said, "Sun, you are a genius!"

"But the only thing is, I have no idea where that would be." Blake said.

"Well, while I was in the ship, I heard some guys talking about offloading a HUGE shipment of Dust coming in from Atlas." Sun said.

"How huge?" Blake asks.

"Sun then spread his arms out and said, "HUGE. Big Schnee Company freighter.

I then said, "Ooooh, Weiss is not going to be happy."

"You're sure?" Blake asks.

XXXXXX

' _3rd POV...'_

Weiss and Yang came out of a store and Yang said, "Thanks anyways!"

The Yang scoughs and said, "This is hopeless."

Weiss didn't say anything and Yang asks her, "You really don't care if we find them, do you?"

"Don't be stupid. Of course I do. I'm just more afraid of what Blake would say when we find them." Weiss said.

She walks along and continues, "The innocent never run, Yang."

XXXXXX

' _Somewhere else..._ '

"So. They're your friends?" Penny asks.

Ruby sighs and said, "Yes, Penny. Though I first met Edward before I was brought to Beacon. I was in the store, reading some magazines until the store I was in was being robbed. One of them guys who was robbing came up to me to put my hands in the air, and that's when I saw Edward, sneaking up behind him and we both took him out, and so on. With Blake, however, I met her when Edward and I were having an argument with Weiss Schnee, and she came in when we first arrive at Beacon."

The Penny asks Ruby, "But you're mad at them?"

"Yes! W-well, I'm not, Weiss is." Ruby asks.

"Is SHE friends with them?" Penny asks.

"Well, that's kind of up in the air right now."

"But, why?" Penny asks.

Ruby sighed and said, "Well, you see, Blake might not be who we thought she was."

Penny gasps, then whispers, "Is she a man?"

Ruby said, "No, no, Penny, she's n- I don't know what she is. She didn't talk to us before she decided to run off. Edward decided to chase her, but before he did, he said to Weiss that they will have a very harsh talk when he comes back, being the team's mentor, he is."

Then Penny said, "Well, I don't have a lot of friends, but if I did, I would want them to talk to me about things."

"Me too." Ruby said.

XXXXXX

' _Back to Edward's POV..._ '

We were in an army crawl position on top of a container in the shipping yard, watching and waiting for the moment. I pulled out both my binoculars and my Anti-Material Rifle and zoomed in with the binoculars at the shipment. Then Sun came back and asks, "Did I miss anything?"

Blake answers, "Not really. They've offloaded all the crates from the boat. Now they're just sitting there."

Then Sun asks me, "Is that a sniper rifle?"

"An Anti-Material Rifle, to be precise." I answered, still using my binoculars.

"Are you preparing for a war or what?" Sun asks.

I chuckled, looked towards him, and asnswered, "You have no idea."

Sun nodded and said, "Cool. I stole you guys some food."

"Do you always break the law without a secound thought?" Blake asks.

"Hey, weren't you in a cult or something?" Sun asks.

Blake glared at him and I said to him, "Uh, too soon, Sun. Too soon."

Then Sun gave a nervous laugh and said, "Yeah, right. Sorry."

Then the same VTOL from the my first time here in Remnant came and hovered over the shipment. I immiedietly pull out my Anti-Material Rifle and positioned it.

Then the VTOL lands and came out the members of the White Fang.

I heard Blake said, "Oh no."

"Is that them?" Sun asks.

"Yes, it's them." Blake said.

I then asked Blake, "Is there a reason why they're wearing masks?"

I was answered with silence and I said, "I'll... shut up, now."

Then Blake asks Blake, "You really didn't think they were behind it, did you?"

"No, I think deep down I knew. I just didn't want it to be right." Blake answered.

Then a familiar voice came out, "Hey! What's the hold up?"

I then began, "Wait, is that...?"

Then out of the VTOL, came Roman Torchwick, who continued, "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, sooo why don't you animals try to pick up the pace."

I muttered with poison on my tongue, "Torchwick."

Then Sun asks in a surprised tone, "Him?"

"This isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a human. Especially not one like him." Blake said as she gets up and was about to ran at them.

I then stood up up and asks "Huh? Wait, what are you-"

She then jumps down and runs foward. I then muttered, "God damnit, Blake!"

I then motioned Sun to follow and said, "Come on, we gotta make sure she stays safe."

I then replaced my Anti-Material rifle with my ' _Old Glory_ ' and we both chasedd after Blake.

We came up to Blake and we overheard, "No, you idiot! This isn't a leash!

I then said to Blake, "Don't worry, we got your back."

Blake nodded and sprinted and held Roman captive.

We followed and heard Roman saying, "What the-? Oh for f-"

Then Blake said, "Nobody move!"

"Woah! Take it easy there little lady." Roman said.

I then yelled out, "Well, well. Roman Torchwick, what a lovely surprise."

Then everyone turned towards me, including Roman and he hissed, "You!?"

I chuckled and said, "Yes, yes. I know, you hate me to death. The feelings mutual."

"Who are you?!" Roman demanded.

"You may refer to me as the Courier, for I am both the messenger and the message. To my enemies, I am the Angel of Death, but to my friends and allies, I am known as the Messiah. So to you, I am Death." I said in my most deadly tone.

I then nodded to both Sun and Blake, who understood to keep my identity a secret, for now.

Then Blake removed her bow and and revealed her cat ears, and shouted, "Brothers of the White Fang. Why are you aiding this scum? In any case, you should call the Courier a friend, for he treats us Faunus as equals with respect!"

Then the White Fang hestitated as they looked towards me, tacken aback from her statement.

"That's not necessary, Blake." I shouted.

Then Roman laughed and said, "Heh, oh kid. Didn't you get the memo?"

Then Blake asks, "What are you talking about?"

"The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together." Roman said.

Then Blake threatened, "Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation."

But the two more VTOLs came in and hovered above us. I then switched to my Elite Riot Gear and me and Sun prepared to fight. I then heard Roman said, "I wouldn't call it a little operation."

Sun then looked over me and stated, "Geez, you are prepared for war, aren't you?"

I looked back at him and replied, "Like I said, you have no idea."

I then noticed Roman grinned and fired his cane into the ground, catching Blake off-balance.

She then fell and Roman fired a few shots at her, and I deflected them all with Old Glory and stood in Roman's way.

"Roman, this fight is between you and me, not her." I said as I stood there, with my helmet's visors glowing bright red.

Roman smirked and said, "An impressive outfit, but let's see if it can withstand against me."

I then looked behind me and told Blake, "Blake, you and Sun take care of the White Fang members, while I'll deal with him. It's a little personal, you understand?"

Blake nodded and she gets up and runs away out of sight. I then turned back and switched my ' _Old Glory_ ' with my ' _Jingwei's Shocksword_ ' in one hand and the ' _Maria_ ' in the other, and quoted, "Alright, Roman..." aimed Maria at him and continued, "Let's see what you got." and then activated the shock effect of my sword.

Roman then chuckled, "You ceased to surprise me, Courier."

Then all of a sudden, Sun dropped a banana peel on him and Sun dropped down and kicked him, and stated, "Leave my friends alone!"

Then a bunch of White Fang members dropped off the VTOLs and surround Sun, then Roman stated, "You're not the brightest banana in the bunch, are ya kid?"

Then the white Fang members charged at him and I began to charge at Roman, who turned around and said, "Now, where were- Oh shi-!"

I punched him in the face and he flew back. He then glared at me as I stated, "Never turn your back on your opponent, Roman. Makes you too easy of a target, and usually, I like them to actually fight back." as I gave out a chuckle.

Then Roman growled and I heard Blake yelled as she charged, "He's mine!"

They then clashed against each other and then a bunch of White Fang members charged at me, but ended quickly as I shot each of them in their knees to stop them.

I then stated, "Damnit Blake!"

Then Blake was knocked back and Sun jumped in and clashed against him, then Blake came out of nowhere and knocked him back.

I joined in and said to them, "I had him, you know."

The Blake said to me, "It doesn't matter. Now we just need to finish this.

Then Roman shot the wires on the crane that hold the container that hung above us. I then switched to my Winterized T-51b Power Armor and caught the container.

Then Sun jumped back and stated, "Jeez! How many outfits do you have?!"

Then I heard another familiar voice yelled out, "Hey!"

It was Ruby on the roof with her Cresent Rose out. I immediately dropped the container and switched back to my Elite Riot Gear and shouted, "Ruby!?"

Then I overheard Roman, "Oh, hello Red! Isn't it past your bedtime?"

Then I noticed Penny coming up behind Ruby. I then shouted out, "Wait, Penny!?"

Ruby turned towards her and Roman took the opportunity and shot Ruby. I became furious and charged at Roman, screaming, "You bastard!"

Then Roman shot me and I flew back. I said, "Ow, that's going to hurt in the morning..."

Then I saw a familiar figure appear before us, the Mysterious Stranger. He pulls out his .44 Magnum and fire a shot into Roman's cane gun and jammed it. Then, as quickly he appeared, he vanished.

Then Blake looked at me and asked, "Who was that?"

I grinned and answered, "The Mysterious Stranger. He shows up out of nowhere and aid anyone in need. I guess you could say he's a Guardian Angel."

Blake nodded and then helped me up, and all of a sudden,I then saw Penny and all of a sudden, a bunch of blades flew from behind her and flew into the air.

I then quoted, "Woah, I guess she is combat ready. I swear, I meet the craziest and powerful people more often than I should."

Penny then sprinted and jumped off the building landed blows on the members of the White Fang.

I was speechless and thought, ' _Sweet Mary Mother of God..._ '

I then overheard Sun, "Woah!" and ran towards both me and Blake.

Then all of a sudden, three more VTOLs came in and fire their gatling guns at Penny. I then pulled out my Red Glare and yelled, "Oh no, you don't!" And fire a bunch of rockets at them, shooting one of them down and crashing into the water.

Then Penny began to charge up her laser with her blades and I muttered, "God damn... is she some battle synth or what?"

Penny then sliced the two other VTOLS and crashed.

She then grappled onto a VTOL with a container and she began to pull it down, causing it to crash.

I muttered again, "She has to be, 'cause I doubt that anyone could pull those down."

I then overheard Roman quoting, "These kids just keep getting weirder!"

For once, I have to agree with him. Weird AND scary.

Then Roman escapes in the last VTOL and flew off into the distance.

XXXXXX

' _Minutes later..._ '

I was standing there while the police were asking me questions while the others sat on the crates.

"So, uh..."

"Edward Vaughn, sir."

"Okay, Mr. Vaughn. Tell us what happened here."

After I told them what happened, They left me and I went to check up on Ruby, Penny, Blake, and Sun and see how they were doing.

Then Yang and Weiss arrived and saw us and Ruby began to talk to Weiss, "Look, Weiss, it's not what you think, she explained the whole thing, you see, she doesn't where a bow, she has kitty ears and their actually kinda cute."

Weiss stood in front of Blake, who began, "Weiss, I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with-"

Then Weiss interrupted "Stop. Do you have any idea how long we've been searching for you? Twelve hours. That means I've had twelve hours to think about this. And in that twelve hours, I've decided..."

There was a pause and the tensidy increased. Then Weiss said, "I don't care!"

I then began, "Wha..?"

Then Blake asked, "You don't care?"

"You said you're not with them anymore, right?" Weiss asked.

Blake answered, "No, I-I haven't been since I was younger-"

"Upupupupup! I don't want to hear it. All I want to know, is that the next time something this big comes up, you'll come to your teammates, and not..." then she glared at Sun, "someone else."

I then muttered to Weiss, "I guess we don't need to have that talk afterall, Weiss. You learned on your own."

Blake responds, "Of course."

Then Ruby cheered, "Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!

Then she pointed at Sun, "I'm still not quite sure how I feel about you!"

Sun gave a nervous laugh and I stood up for him and said, "Don't worry, he's alright."

Then Ruby asks, "Hey, wait a minute. Where's Penny?"

We all shrugged and I said, "Maybe she went home for the night. We might need to do the same."

They all nodded, knowing that it has been an eventful evening.

XXXXXX

' _Somewhere in Vale..._ '

"How very disappointing, Roman." a voice came out.

"Woah! haha... I wasn't expecting to see you guys so soon."

"We were expecting... more from you."

"Well, I ran into the mystery man again, with a couple of his friends. Though I have a lead about him though." Roman said.

The girl raised an eyebrow and asked, "Oh?"

"Yeah, and he said, in quote, ' _You may refer to me as the Courier, for I am both the messenger and the message. To my enemies, I am the Angel of Death, but to my friends and allies, I am known as the Messiah. So to you, I am Death._ ' The way he says it, though. I think we may have a problem on our hands."

Then the woman growled and said, "So, now we have a name to a face, or at least, an alias. We've now gotten a lead. But for now on, do not disappoint me, Roman."

Roman sighed and said, "Of course, Ms. Cinder Fall. It won't happen again."

To be Continued...


	18. Chapter 16: Foodfight

**Chapter 16: Foodfight**

 _Location: Beacon Academy, Vale Year: Unknown_

We were at the cafeteria, just hanging out. I was only paying attention to my Pipboy, scrolling through all of the holotape recordings I found throughout the Wasteland, and came up upon the recording from my father.

Blake was next to me and noticed this and asks, "Is that a message from your dad?"

Then everyone at the table looked towards my direction. I responded, "Yeah. An old recorded message I found on..."

I paused for a moment and continued in sorrow, "...On the corpse of my dad's best friend, Jonas." as I ended with a sigh.

I then looked up and asked, "You guys want to hear it?"

Then Ruby asks, "You don't have to-"

I interrupted her, "Don't worry about it. Besides, I always listen to it when I needed to hear his voice, once in a while."

Then a pause came for a second, then I asked, "So, how about it?"

Yang responded, "Sure."

And everyone else nodded and I said, "Alright, here we go."

I then played the recording:

 _"Hold on Jonas, I need to record this first. I don't really know how to tell you this. I hope you'll understand, but I know you might be angry. I thought about it for a long time, but in the end, I decided it was best for you not to know. So many things could have gone wrong, and there's really no telling how the Overseer will react when he finds out. It's best if he can blame everything on me. Obviously, you already know I'm gone. It was something I needed to do. You're an adult now. You're ready to be on your own. Maybe some day, things will change and we can see each other again. God knows life in the Vault isn't perfect, but at least you'll be safe. Just knowing that will be enough to keep me going."_

Then Jonas cuts in, _"Don't mean to rush you, Doc, but I'd feel better if we got this over with."_

Then Dad replies, _"Okay. Go ahead. Goodbye, I love you."_

Then the recording ends and I sighed, and said, "God, I miss him."

Then Nora asks, "Uh, what's an Overseer, Edward?"

Then Ren said, "Nora, please-"

I interrupted him, "It's alright, Ren."

Then I answered Nora, "An Overseer is a leader of the Vault. He or she 'oversees' everything and makes sure everyone in the Vault is safe and happy."

Then Blake asks, "And what's a Vault?"

I answered, "Vaults are fallout shelters or bunkers built by Vault-Tec, the same company who made this * _I show them the Pipboy_ * here. The Vault I was raised in was Vault 101, one of the very few that is still occupied. But the Vaults were not really built to save humanity."

Then Weiss asks, "What do you mean?"

"Well, each and every Vault have some sort of twisted experiment they'd performed, like a test of the white noise on people, plant evolution and mutation..." Then I shudder and continued, "Clones, and the like."

The Pyrrha asks, "Why did you shudder at the word ' _Clones_ '?"

"Trust me, you don't want to know." I answered and I thought back to Vault 108 and with the Gary clones, and shuddered again.

Then Jaune asks, "Well, not all of the Vaults' experiments were as bad, right?"

I nodded and said, "Yeah, like Vault 101 and others like it. But either way, they did kind of saved humanity, kind of."

Then a moment of silence came and then Blake broke the silence and asked, "Edward, if you don't mind me asking, but who exactly killed your father?"

Then a pause came and I answered, "He wasn't really killed, only forced to sacrifice himself for me and the project. But, nonetheless, the ones who cause my father's death was a group known as the Enclave, which was, or still is, the remnants of the U.S. government, but corrupted. They use plasma weaponry, as well as others, and wear the power armors like either the X-01's and the X-02's. The ones I first met were wearing the X-02's, and it looks like devil power armor."

Then Ruby asks, "What was your father's project?"

I then answered, "Well, first, let me tell you a verse from the scriptures here. The one that me and my dad love so much."

All of them nodded and I began, "Revelations 21:6, I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give unto him that is a thirst of the Fountain of the Water of Life, freely."

Then everyone responded with awes and such. Pyrrha commented, "That verse is beautiful, Edward."

I chuckled and replied, "Yeah. This verse brought an idea to my parents. You see, the bodies of water in my world were polluted and irradiated, unsafe to drink. Then the verse became an idea; an idea that began the project, known as Project Purity. It was supposed to purify all the polluted water to fresh, clean water for everyone to drink, freely."

Again, the whole table bought out awes and such, and Weiss responded, "Wow, that's amazing! Did it worked?"

"Yeah, I was able to finish where my parents began, by using the G.E.C.K. for the project to perform successfully." I responded.

Then Blake asked, "The G.E.C.K.?"

"The Garden of Eden Creation Kit, or GECK, for short, was supposed to be use for terraforming after the Nuclear Apocalypse, reforming and purifying all the land. It was made by Future-Tec, a division by Vault-Tec, by a scientist named Stanislaus Braun. But it was unstable technology and since the scientists didn't have one, it became one of the minor reasons why the project was halted." I answered.

Then Ren asks, "What major reason did it brought the project to a halt?"

The pause came and I finally answered, "Me."

"What?" all of them asked.

Then Blake asks, "What do you mean?"

"Well, the project was mainly halted due to the fact when I was born. With the unsuccessful tests of the purifier and the death of my mother, my dad broke down. He then left the project to ensure my safety, and brought me to Vault 101. That's why he left the Vault when I was old enough to be by myself, so he could finish what he started." I replied.

Then a bunch of 'oh's and such erupted throughout the table. I then said, "I'll tell you more later, alright?"

I received a set of nods and then Ruby brought out of nowhere, a large pile of paper that are lists to do. We stared in disbelief and I thought, ' _Oh God, what did you plan this time, Ruby?_ '

Then she began, "Sisters! Friends! Weiss."

Then I heard Weiss shouted, "Hey!"

Then Ruby continued, "Four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream..."

Then Yang commented, "This ought to be good."

Then Ruby continued, "A dream that one day, the nine of us would come together as a team, and have the most fun anyone has ever had, ever!"

The Weiss asks, "Did you steal my binder?"

Ruby replied, "I am not a crook."

Then Blake asks, "What are you talking about?"

I then said, "Ruby, you just ripped off the beginning from both Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr., two of the most historical figures in U.S. History."

The Ruby asks, "Wait, I did?"

"Yes. The part, ' _Four score and seven years ago_ ' came from the 16th President of the U.S., Abraham Lincoln, who ended slavery and the ' _I have a dream_ ' part came from Martin Luther King Jr. and was part of his speech during the Civil Rights Movement."

Then a moment of silence came and Ruby broke it by replying, "Oh..."

Then Blake asked Ruby, "Again, what are you talking about?"

Then Ruby answered, "I'm talking about kicking off the semester with a bang!"

Then Yang quoted, "I always kick my semester off with a ' _Yang_ '!"

Everyone was silent and I muttered, "Dangit Yang."

Yang continued, "Ehh!? Guys? Am I right?"

Then someone threw an apple at Yang and yelled, "Boooooooo!"

Yang growled and Ruby said, "Look guys, it's been a good two weeks, and between more exchange students arriving and the tournament at the end of the year, our second semester is going to be great! But classes start back up tomorrow, which is why I've taken the time to schedule a series of wonderful events for us today."

Then Weiss said, "I don't know whether to be proud or scared of what you have in store."

Then I saw Yang throwing back an apple and I muttered, "Really Yang?"

Then Blake said, "I don't know. I think I might sit this one out."

I then replied, "For me, it depends on what it is."

Then Weiss said, "Sit out or not, I think however we spend this last day, we should do it as a team."

Then Weiss stood up and continued, "I for one think that-"

Then out of nowhere, a pie hit Weiss' face and I then knew what was going to happen, which is...

Then Nora stood up on the table and unleashed her battle cry, "FOODFIGHT!"

' _Shit, I'm outta here!_ ' I thought as I sprinted out as the food fight began.

I ran outside and chaos ensued within the cafeteria and I sighed in relief.

XXXXXX

' _3rd POV..._ '

Neptune and Sun were at Beacon, walking and chatting as they near the cafeteria...

"Man, that's harsh." Neptune said.

Then Sun began "So then here we are, at each others back and fighting against these White Fang members. Then this guy, named Edward Vaugh, was kicking ass flawlessly and somehow instantly change weapons and armor in a fly. Like this one part where he switched to this armored mech suit and caught this container that hung over us as it fell. He was so badass. And with Blake, she was super fast and-"

Then Sun noticed Edward and said, "Wait! There he is, right now!"

XXXXXX

' _Back to Edward's POV..._ '

I stood there and heard a familiar voice shout out to me, "Hey, Edward!"

I looked and saw Sun along with a guy with blue hair. I waved and replied, "Hey Sun! How's it going?"

I then turned my gaze to the guy with blue hair and asked, "And who's this, Sun?"

Sun replied, "Ah, this is Neptune. He's a good friend of mine."

I nodded at Neptune and said, "Nice to meet you, Neptune."

He nodded and replied, "You, too."

Then a loud crash came from inside the cafeteria and we saw Yang flying high up into the sky.

They then looked towards me, and Sun asked, "Uh, Edward? What's happening in there?"

I replied, "If I were you, I would not go in there. Inside the cafeteria is a Foodfight warzone. It's highly dangerous, as you can see."

Then a watermelon came flying through a window, shattering the glass. We then noticed Ms. Goodwitch, annoyed as hell, and Ozpin and I said, "Thank God Almighty, you're here! It's chaos in there, and I believe we saw Yang flying high into the sky at some point."

"I see... Thank you, Mr. Vaughn, I'll take care of it from here." Goodwitch said.

Then we entered the cafeteria, which was a complete mess, and Goodwitch began to clean up everything in an instant, by using some sort of spell. Then she said softly, "Children, please... do not play with your food."

Then after a few moments, Yang finally came down and crashed landed. She gets up and showed thumbs up, to tell that she is okay. I heard Goodwitch growled and Ozpin said to her, "Let it go."

Then Goodwitch said, "They're supposed to be the defenders of the world."

Ozpin replied, "And they will be. But right now, they're still children. So why not let them play the part?"

Then Ozpin walked away and continued, "Afterall, it isn't a role they'll have forever."

XXXXXX

' _Somewhere secluded around Vale..._ '

Emerald and Mercury arrived at the White Fang's secret hideout, while all of the members worked. Roman notices them and said, "Oh look, she sent the kids again."

Then Roman walked over and continued, "This is turning out just like the divorce."

Then Emerald replied, "Spare us the thought of procreating."

Then Roman said, "That was a joke. And this * _holds up a photo_ * just might tell me where you two been all day."

Emerald freaked out and said, "Wha-?! How-?!"

"I'm a professional sweetheart. Pay attention, maybe you'll learn something. But of course, it won't do anything against a new rival of ours." Roman stated.

Then Mercury asks, "That's what we wanted to ask about. So... who's the new rival?"

"We don't know. He's a spook of some kind. He seems like he doesn't even exist. He's even a Veteran, at that. But the only thing we know is his alias." Roman said.

Emerald then asks, "Okay, which is?"

Roman sighed and then said, "I'm going to say the same thing that I told Cinder. He said, in quote, ' _You may refer to me as the Courier, for I am both the messenger and the message. To my enemies, I am the Angel of Death, but to my friends and allies, I am known as the Messiah. So to you, I am Death._ ' But that's all we know."

Then Mercury asks, "What about a face?"

"No, because he wears this weird gas mask with glowing eyes. So we don't even know what he even looks like." Roman said.

"Oh." Mercury said.

Then Roman looks at the photo and asks, "Why do you have this address?"

Emerald remarked, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Yeah, I would. Now, where have you been all day?" Roman asks.

Then Mercury steps up, "Cleaning up your problems... one of them, at least."

"I had that under control." Roman said.

Then Mercury continued, "Two packed bags and a ticket out of Vale said otherwise."

Then Roman snapped, "Listen, you little punk, if it were up to me, I would take you and your little street-rat friend here, and I would-"

"Do what, Roman?" a voice interrupted Roman. It was Cinder, and she appeared above them and she stepped on the elevator.

Then Roman chuckled nervously and said, "I'd uh... Not kill them?"

Then Emerald said, "Cinder!"

Then Cinder said, "I thought I made it clear that you were to eliminate the would-be runaway, aside from the Courier, of course."

Then Roman said, "I was going to..."

Then Emerald said, "He was going to escape to Vacuo. Mercury and I decided to take upon ourselves to kill the rat."

Then Mercury said, "I think he was some sort of cat actually."

"What? Like a puma?" Emerald asks.

Then Mercury replied, "Yeah, there ya go."

But then, out of nowhere, a voice shouted, "It's a warthog, for crying out loud!"

Then another voice shouted, "Shut up, Simmons!"

"No! You-" the first voice shouted until cut off.

Cinder shouted, "Quiet!"

Then silence came and Cinder asks, "Did I not specifically instruct you two to keep your hands clean while in Vale?"

Then Emerald said, "I-I just thought-"

Cinder interrupts, "Don't think, obey."

Then Emerald replied, "Yes ma'am. It won't happen again."

Then Cinder turned to Roman and began, "And you..."

Roman let out a nervous laugh as Cinder asks, "Why wasn't this job done sooner?"

"Uh... Eh!" He shows the crates and shipments and continues, "Ehhhh? EHHHHHHHHH!?"

Then Roman said, "Sorry if I've been a little busy stealing every spec of Dust in the kingdom!"

Then Mercury said, "You're an inspiration to every punk with a gun and a ski mask."

"Look around, kid. I've got this town running scared... aside from this Courier, of course. For all I know, he could have fought in wars that we don't know about, because he seems not even scared at all. But besides him, the police are camping out every corner, the Dust prices through the roof, and we're sitting pretty in an old warehouse with more Dust crystals, vials, and rounds than we know what to do with." Roman stated.

Then he spun around and continued, "Speaking of which. If you guys wouldn't mind filling me in on your grand-master plan, it might actually make my next string of robberies go a little smoother."

Then Cinder walks up and replies, "Oh Roman. Have a little faith. You'll know what you need when you need to know it. Besides, we're done with Dust."

Then Roman started, "Okay, then what now?"

Then Cinder begins to walk away and said, "We're moving. Have the White Fang clear out this building. I'll send you details and coordinates tonight."

Then Roman asks, "Coordinates?"

The Cinder simply stated, "We're proceeding to phase two."

 _To be Continued..._


	19. Chapter 17: Atlas

**Chapter 17: Atlas**

 _Location: Beacon Academy, Vale Year: Unknown_

The students from Atlas arrived, but not what I was expecting. From what it looks like, Atlas brought an army to Vale, which gave me a little discomfort.

' _Damn... is Atlas expecting war or something?_ ' I thought to myself.

Then Ruby came out of nowhere and asked me, "Hey, Edward!"

I jumped a little and responded, "Oh, hey, Ruby. Uhm... next time, don't sneak up behind me like that. I'm a little on edge right at this moment."

Ruby raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why?"

"It's just that I feel very uncomfortable, seeing Atlas bringing an army, like they're expecting a war soon." I replied back.

She then glanced at the Atlas ships and such, then replied, "Yeah... I can see why. Don't worry, though. I heard General Ironwood is a close friend to Ozpin."

"That's not what I'm worried about."

Ruby then glanced at me, and I continued, "I'm more worried about what they're expecting to happen, like a terrorist attack or something."

Ruby stood there in silence as I turned to her, "Remember this, Ruby. Don't always trust what the government or any political leaders say, 'cause not everything they say is true. Trust me, I know. Most factions like the NCR and others always lie to people, the innocent, and hide the truth, if they can, whether it's to protect them or not."

Ruby only responded by nodding and we continued to watch the ships.

XXXXXX

' _3rd POV; in Ozpin's Office..._ '

Ozpin and Glynda watched out the window as they witness Atlas bringing their army to Beacon.

"Ironwood certainly loves bringing his work wherever he travels." Glynda quoted, with a slight annoyance.

"Well... running an academy and a military makes him a busy man, but yes, those are a bit of an eyesore." Ozpin replied.

Then Glynda turned to Ozpin and asks, "Ozpin, does Ironwood know about Edward? Does he know that he's from an alternate world and the like?"

Ozpin nodded and answered, "Yes, he's fully aware on the subject. Of course, he suggested that he might be working for the White Fang, but I assured him that Edward's not quite fond of them in some way. Plus, when he meets Edward himself, then he'll definitely have second thoughts."

Glynda raised an eyebrow and asks, "Are you sure it will?"

Ozpin chuckled and replied, "Of course, with that Pipboy on his wrist and the outfit, or outfits, that he wears, there's no doubt he will."

Glynda nodded and replied back, "Right... of course, Ozpin."

Then a message came up on Ozpin's desk that notified him that Ironwood is waiting.

"Come in." Ozpin said.

Then the elevator opens up and Ironwood came out, "Ozpin."

"Hello general." Ozpin replied.

"Please, drop the formalities." Ironwood said. Then he and Ozpin walked up to each other, shook hands, and Ironwood replies, "It's been too long!"

Then he turned to Glynda, "And Glynda! It has certainly been too long since we last met."

"Oh James..." then she turns to Ozpin, "I'll be outside."

Then Glynda walks out and Ironwood comments, "Well, she hasn't change a bit."

Then Ozpin began, "So... what in the world has brought you all the way down from Atlas? Headmasters don't typically travel with their students for the Vytal Festival."

"Well, you know how much I love Vale this time of year. Besides you hosting, I would like to keep an eye on this ' _Edward_ ' character. Also, it's a good opportunity for us to catch up." Ironwood answered.

Ozpin sighed and said, "How many times do I have to say this? Edward is not a spy for the White Fang. So far, he's been a great help, especially to teams RWBY and JNPR. He makes quite a mentor."

"I'll believe it when I see it." Ironwood says.

"Oh? Then this recording of his initiation day would say otherwise."Ozpin said as he brings up the recording of Edward, after landing.

Ironwood watched as he saw a figure, which he figured is Edward, falling from the sky, cursing. Then in a flash, something starts to form around him and Edward crash-landed, creating a small crater. Then, when Edward came out, it surprised Ironwood. He saw Edward, who was wearing his duster and strange helmet, was now wearing an armored, winterized mech suit. He was holding a weapon of sorts and he looks up to the sky, as Edward heard a girl screaming, which Ironwood heard as well, "Birdy, nooo!"

Then Ironwood saw that Edward turned towards a pack of Beowolves. Then something shocked Ironwood even more, is that Edward somehow switched from his current weapon to a hand-held pistol of such and a bowie knife. That's when Ironwood was stunned at this point; Edward was eliminating the Beowolves, without any effort. Also at the fact that he is in a possession of an energy-based weapon. Then an Alpha Beowolf showed up and more Beowolves attacked. But before they can do so, Edward switched to another energy weapon and a Molotov and swiftly eliminated all of the Beowolves. Then the Alpha charged and Edward switched to a non-energy-based pistol and shot a decent-size hole into the Alpha's chest.

Then Edward ran up to the Alpha and shoved the Molotov, which is light up, and shoves the Alpha away. Then he aimed his pistol, and Ironwood heard Edward quote, "Burn in Hell."

Then he shot the Molotov, bursting the Alpha into flames and Edward began to walk away as he pulls out an energy axe, quoting, "Again, not impressed."

As the footage ended, Ironwood looks up at Ozpin with a shock expression, and asks, "Tha-that's Edward?"

Ozpin nodded and answered, "Yes, indeed, it is him. He has also blew up a Death Stalker with an over-powered weapon in one shot. But since in his world has large, mutated scorpions that always come out of nowhere and attack him, he's not very fond of any scorpion-related creatures. So, the Death Stalker was one of those on his list."

Ironwood nodded and asks, "He's quite the Veteran, for a 15-year-old."

Ozpin sighed and said, "Oh, I forgot to mention this, but the theory of the possibility of someone de-aging while being transported has been proven true."

Ironwood raised an eyebrow and asks, "Really?"

"Yes, and the source is him, Edward. He was accidently teleported here, but also de-aged. He may look 15, but, in reality, he's 23." Ozpin replied.

This shock Ironwood even more, but nodded at Ozpin and replied, "That makes sense. He's way too young to be a Veteran, and I guess we now know that the theory is proven."

Then a moment of silence came, and Ironwood asks, "Do you know his reputation, Ozpin?"

Ozpin nodded and answered, "Yes. Even though, he still considers himself a vigilante, his reputation has earned him the alias, ' _Messiah_ '."

Ironwood was surprised at this and commented, "I see... well, it's good to know that he's not the enemy. I shouldn't have never doubted your judgement, Ozpin."

XXXXXX

' _Back to Edward's POV, in the library..._ '

I was researching on Remnant's history while Blake, Weiss, Yang, and Ruby played a board game.

' _Huh, the humans and Faunus were actually made from Dust, and that Dust was the key to their survival against the Grimm. Now THAT is interesting..._ ' I though to myself. But then I came to a section about legends and stories. None of them were any interest to me, except one particular legend, which is about the Four Maidans. How one of each represents each season, though I didn't get to read more about it, because my attention was now focused on Ruby...

"Yang Xiao Long, prepare your kingdom for battle!"

"Dafuq?" I muttered to myself.

Then Yang shouted, "Bring it on!"

I made a face palm and muttered, "Oh lord..."

The Ruby said, "I deploy the Atlesian Air Fleet!"

Yang gasped as Ruby continues, "Looks like I get to fly right over your Ursai and attack your walls directly!" as she then made air plane noises and explosion sounds.

Again, Yang gasped and replied, "You fiend!"

And Ruby continued, "And since Atlas is part of Mantle, my repair time only lasts one turn."

Then Yang chuckled and said, "Pretty sneaky sis, but you've just activated my trap card! Giant Nevermore! If I roll a seven or higher, Fatal Feathers will slice your fleet in two."

But then Ruby countered, "But, if you roll a six or lower, the Nvermore will turn on your own forces!"

"That's just a chance I'm willing to take." Yang replied.

I then looked towards team JNPR and they were more mellow. Ren looks like he's studying, Nora is asleep, Pyrrha is also studying, and Jaune was reading a comic book, but Pyrrha suggeted him to study.

After Ruby's complaining, Yang then says, "Well Weiss, it's your turn!"

Then Weiss replied, "I... have absolutely no idea what's going on."

I muttered, "Your not the only one, Weiss..."

Yang says to Weiss, "Look, it's easy! Your playing as Vacuo, which means all Vacuo-based cards comes with a bonus!"

"That sounds dumb." Weiss commented.

Then Yang pointed out, "See... you've got Sandstorm, Dessert Scavenge-Oh! Oh! Resourceful Raider! See, now you can take Ruby's discarded air fleet-"

Ruby interrupts, "Nooooo..."

"-and put it in your hand!"

"Okay?" Weiss replies.

"And since Vacuo warriors have an endurance boost against natural hazards, you can use Sandstorm to disable my ground forces and simultaneously infiltrate my knigdom!" Yang said.

But then Yang added, "Just know, that I will not forget this declaration of war."

"And that means?" Weiss asks innocently.

Ruby answers, still weeping, "You're just three moves away from conquering Remnant!"

Then Weiss realizes this and stood up and made an evil laugh, while also ranting, until...

"Trap card." Yang said.

"Huh?" Weiss asked in confusion.

"Your armies have been destroyed." Yang said.

Then Weiss sat down, began to weep, and said, "I hate this game of emotions we play!"

Then Ruby hugged Weiss and said, "Stay strong, Weiss. We'll make it through this together."

"Shut up! Don't touch me!" Weiss commented.

Then Yang turned to Blake and said, "Alright Blake, you're up!"

"Huh? Oh! Umm... sorry, what am I doing?" Blake asks tiringly.

"You're playing as Vale, trying to conquer the kingdoms of Remnant!" Yang answered.

"Right..." Blake replies.

Then Jaune comes over and asks, "Hey! Can I play?"

Ruby answers, "Sorry, Jaune, we've already got four people."

Then Weiss added, "Besides, this game requires a certain level of tactical cunning that I seriously doubt you possess."

Then Yang added, "Uhh... you attacked your own naval fleet, two turns ago."

I said to them, "To let you guys know, Jaune, here, is actually a great stragetist. Afterall, Pyrrha and I train him after class and we found out the he makes up his lack of skills in combat with his intellegence. Seriously, he does. That's how he became a team leader in the first place."

They all look at me and Weiss commented, "Oh."

Then we saw Sun and Neptune coming towards us and Sun said, while holding up a peace sign, "'Sup, losers?"

Ruby greeted, "Hey Sun!"

I then greeted while giving a two-finger salute, "Hey Sun! Hey Neptune!"

Sun acknowledges, "Ruby, Yang, Blake, Edward, and Ice Queen."

Then Weiss complained, "Why does everyone keep calling me that?!"

The Sun said, "I never got a chance to formally introduce you to my old friend."

Neptune asks, "Uh... aren't libraries for reading?"

Then we overheard Ren, "Thank you!"

Then Nora woke up and shouted, "Pancakes!"

Sun said to Neptune, "Shut up. Don't be a nerd."

"Upupupup! Intellectual. Okay. Thank you." Neptune corrected.

I commented, "Thank you!"

Then Neptune turned to us, "I'm Neptune."

Then Weiss asks, "So, Neptune, where are you from?"

"Haven." Neptune said, then walks towards Weiss.

I then thought, ' _Please, don't tell me that Neptune is going to start hitting on her..._ '

"... And I don't believe I've caught your name, snow angel." Neptune finished.

I sighed and thought, ' _And there he goes-wait, snow angel? That's a new one..._ '

"Um... I'm Weiss.

"Pleasure to meet you." Neptune complemented.

Then Sun said to Blake, "I never took you as the board-game-playing type!"

Blake replied said, "Right... well, I think I'm done playing, actually. I'll see you guys later."

After a few seconds, Nora simply said, "Women..."

I then became worried about Blake's behavior and decided to check on her later.

XXXXXX

' _Moments after..._ '

I came to check on Blake in RWBY's dorm to see how she's feeling. I knocked...

"Yeah, who is it?"

"It's me, Edward. I just want to talk, if it's okay with you."

After a brief moment of silence, Blake replied, "Sure, come in."

I opened the door and saw Blake on her bed, hugging her legs, and almost deep in thought.

I sat on her bed and Blake asks, "What is that you want to talk about?"

I sighed, took a deep breath, and asked, "Blake, is there something wrong? You seem more... unaware, uhm... lost in thought; depressed. And I want to know what's up."

After a brief moment of silence, she sighed and answered, "It's-it's about back at the shipping yard, Edward."

"Really?" I responded.

She nodded and said, "Yes."

"Does it have to do with Roman Torchwick?" I asked.

"Yes." she answered, but with anger within her tone.

I nodded and replied, "I see... and you want to see him behind bars, do you?"

Blake nodded and replied, "Positive. That scum deserves it."

After a brief moment of silence, I then said, "Usually, back at the Wasteland, there were no true justice, no jail, no nothing. But, there is still some justice, but only solved by shooting the criminals in the head. But... I agree with you, Blake. He deserves to rot in a jail cell. Afterward, we'll figure out what to do with the White Fang."

She looks up at me, and I continued, "BUT, you must not let it get to you. Don't become to obsess with it. We will bring Torchwick to justice, but you must need sleep, because I can tell you haven't slept, hang out and have fun. Otherwise, you'll be too weak to take him on, alright?"

Blake nodded and smiled a little, then Yang, Weiss, and Ruby came in...

"Ugh! We should have never let him play!" Yang complained.

Then Ruby teased, "You're just mad 'cause the new guy beat you. See, if you had just attacked when I told you, none of this would have happened.

Then they saw me and Blake, and Yang asks, "Uh... did we intrude on anything?"

Before Blake could answer, I replied, "I came here to check on Blake, since she seemed to be depressed; lost in thought. We just finished talking."

All three of them replied, "Oh."

Then Ruby asks, "So... about what?"

I turned to Blake, who nodded, and I turned back and replied, "It's about Torchwich and the White Fang-"

Then Blake said, "I-I just can't focus! I have this feeling that they are up to something big, and not in the good way."

They all nodded and Ruby began, "Okay! All in favor or being the youngest huntresses and Huntsman to single-handedly bring down a corrupt organization conspiring against the kingdom of Vale... say 'Aye'!"

"Yes! I love it when you're feisty!" Yang shouted.

"Well, I suppose it could be fun." Weiss said.

Blake and I stood up, and I replied, "Let's give them Hell!"

Blake only nodded as her response and Ruby muttered, "None of you said 'Aye'..."

"It's close enough, Ruby! Just think of it as our way of saying 'Aye'." I replied.

Then Blake said, "Alright then... we're in this together."

The Ruby said, "Let's hatch a plan!"

Yang commented, "Yeah!"

Then Ruby gasped and said, "I left my board game in the library!"

Weiss face-palmed and shook her head, and said, "We're doomed."

Then Ruby rushed out of their dorm and into the hallway and shouted, "I'll be right back!"

But then, I heard Ruby running into someone and came to investigate. I then saw three students that I've never seen before: a girl with a dark tan skin, mint green hair, and red eyes, a guy with grey hair and grey eyes(?), and the last one... seems familiar. The last one had long, back hair and fiery orange eyes that seems to glow. I tried to think on where I seen her before, but nothing came to mind.

I then overheard Ruby, "Sorry... Are... you okay?"

Then the mint hair girl replied, "I'm fine. Just watch where you're going." as she offered a hand.

"Oh... right... sorry... Um... I'm Ruby! Are you... new?" Ruby asked hesitantly.

Then the fiery eyed girl answers, "Visiting from Haven, actually."

None of them haven't noticed me yet, so I took the opportunity to use one of my Stealthboys and cloaked myself. ' _I can't let them see me... yet._ '

Then I heard Ruby said, "Ooooooh! You're here for the festival! Oh, but exchange students have their own dormitory."

Then the guy with grey hair responds, "I guess we just got turned around."

Ruby replies back, "Don't worry, happens all the time! Uh, your building is just east of here!"

Then the fiery eye girl replies back, "Thanks. Maybe we'll see you around."

"Yeah, maybe! Oh! And welcome to Beacon!" Ruby said before she continued to run towards the library.

As they walked past me, none of them knew I was there. When they left out of sight, I quietly entered my dorm and I thought to myself, ' _I felt something unholy about them three, especially the fiery-eyed girl. One thing is for sure though, is that they're going to cause trouble._ '

To be Continued...


	20. Chapter 18: Investigation

**Chapter 18: Investigation**

 _Location: Beacon Academy, Vale Year: Unknown_

As usual, I was mostly lost in thought in Professor Port's class, remembering the fun moments while in the Wasteland. Also, Yang said she got me something and said she'll show me in Vale, so that was itching my mind, trying to figure out what could it be. But then class ended and it was time for team RWBY and I to begin the investigation.

Minutes later, when I arrived in my dorm, I switched to my NCR Veteran Ranger Combat Armor, switching things up a bit, and switched to my Ranger Sequoia and waited for a little for team RWBY to get ready. Afterward, I came to RWBY's dorm and knocked on there door.

I then heard Ruby's voice, "Uh... who is it?"

"It's Edward, Ruby."

"Alright, come on in."

As I entered, both Weiss and Ruby were stunned at my armor while Yang and Blake smirked.

"Wow... it looks like your original oufit, Eddie." Ruby said.

Weiss added, "Yeah, but a little intimidating than the other. Not that it is a bad thing, of course."

Then Blake commented, "You're finally wearing your old NCR uniform, Edd."

Yang gave me a thumbs up and quoted, "Now you're rockin'!"

I nodded and replied, "Thanks! I haven't wore this for a long while."

After a long, awkward silence, I then I asked, "Uhm... do you guys even have a plan or are you going to make it up as you go?"

Yang answered, "Yeah, we've got a plan that's... moderately serious."

Ruby followed up, "Right, everyone remember their roles?"

Weiss answers, "You and I will head to the CCT and check the Schnee records for any other Dust Robberies, or inconsistencies. Seeing as I'm in the family, it shouldn't be a problem."

Then Blake answers, "The White Fang has regular faction meetings to hand out orders and recruit new members. If I can get in, I can hopefully find out what they're planning."

Then Yang says, "I, along with Edward, will visit an old friend of mine on the shady side of town that typically knows everything going on. Getting information out of him shouldn't be too hard."

Ruby replies, "Great, we'll meet up tonight near Yang to go over what we've found. Let's do this!"

Then we heard someone shouted, "Yeah!" outside the window and saw that it was Sun, hanging from a tree.

Then we jumped back and Yang asks, "Sun! How did you get up there?"

"Ah, it's easy, I do it all the time." Sun answered.

"You do what!?" Weiss shouted.

"I climb trees all the time!" Sun replied.

Then Sun jumps in and asks, "So... are we finally getting back at that Torchwick guy?"

Blake answers, "WE are going to investigate the situation... as a team."

Then Ruby said, "Sorry Sun, we don't want to get friends involved if we don't have to."

"Pfft, that's dumb. You should always get friends involved. That's why I brought Neptune." Sun replied.

' _Wait, what?!_ ' I thought to myself as we looked out the window and see Neptune on the edge.

Neptune casually said, "'Sup."

I asked him, "How in the Hell did you even get up here?"

"I have my ways... seriously though, can I come in. We're like, really high up right now." Neptune replied.

After a few minutes of re-explaining the plan, Ruby began, "Alright. I'll go with Weiss. Sun, you can go with Blake. And Neptune, you go with Yang and Edward. Everyone good?"

Weiss began, "Actually Ruby, why don't you go with Yang, heh. After all, she is your sister."

"But Weiss, who would go with you then?" Ruby asks.

"Well, I guess Neptune could come with me." Weiss responded.

' _Wait? Did I hear her right? She wants to go with a guy she just met?_ ' I thought to myself in confusion.

Ruby started to laugh and replied, "Nah!"

Then Ruby began to drag Weiss, who was saying, "But! But!"

XXXXXX

' _3rd POV...'_

"Wow! I forgot how big the transmit tower looks so close!" Ruby replied as her and Weiss headed to the said building.

Weiss replies, "You should see the one in Atlas."

"That was the first one, right?" Ruby asked.

"Correct. Atlas developed the cross-continental transmit system to allow the four kingdoms to communicate with one another. It was their gift to the world after the great war."

Then Ruby intimidate Weiss, "Ooo look at me, my name is Weiss, Iknow facts, I'm rich!" Then she giggled.

"Don't be a pest. Besides, the only reason we're here is because you like the tower so much. We could've just as easily made a call from the library." Weiss replied back.

"I know, but it's so cool! Oh! I'm going to take a picture!" Ruby said as she stumbled with her Scroll.

She then dropped it and someone picked it up, "Oh! You dropped this."

"Penny?!" Ruby said.

Penny looked surprised and said, "Uhh..."

"Where have you been?! We haven't seen you since the night at the docks." Ruby said.

Penny tried to confuse them, "S-sorry. I think you're confused."

Then Penny hiccuped and gave Ruby her Scroll, then left, saying, "Uh, I've got to go."

"What was that about?" Weiss asked.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out. You go make your call, I'll meet up with you later!" Ruby said as she started to chase after Penny.

"W-wait!" Weiss shouted to Ruby as she left. "Ugh."

As Ruby caught up with Penny, Ruby began to question, "Penny! Where have you been? It's been weeks!"

"There seems to be a misunderstanding." Penny replies.

"What?! Penny... is everything okay?" Ruby asked, but Penny kept going.

"Penny, please stop! Look, I don't know what's wrong, but you have to listen to me. Those guys we fought at the docks, we think they're up to something big, something bad!" Ruby said.

Penny continued to stare at the ground, and Ruby said, "I need you to tell me what happened to you that night, please... as a friend."

Penny sighed and looked around her, and she whispers to Ruby, "It isn't safe to talk here."

Nearby, Weiss enters the tower and she enters the elevator. Then a voice from the intercom asks, " _Welcome to the CCT. How may I help you?_ "

"I'd like to go to the communications room, please." Weiss responded.

" _Absolutely. Could you please place your Scroll on the terminal to verify your identity._ "

Weiss pulls out her Scroll and the terminal scans it.

" _Perfect. Thank you, Miss Schnee._ "

After a few moments in the elevator, Weiss walks out into the Communications room and walks up to and there, sat a holographic figure of a woman, who replies, "Welcome to the Beacon Cross-Continental Transmit Center. How may I help you?"

"I need to make a call to the Schnee Company World Headquarters in Atlas." Weiss replies.

"Absolutely. If you could head over to Terminal 3, I'll patch you through."

"Thank you." Weiss thanked.

Then Weiss heads over to the terminal and sat down. Weiss sighed and then an image of another woman, who said, "Thank you for calling the Atlas- oh, Miss Schnee! Good afternoon! Would you like me to patch you through to your father? I think your sister, Winter, might be here as well."

Weiss replies, "No thank you, I was actually wondering if you could find some files for me." Then she pulled up her Scroll and inserted the data, "I've compiled a short list."

"I see... If you don't mind... What may I ask is this for?"

"School project." Weiss answered

"Um, there are some sensitive documents on this list, ma'am."

"Well then, I'll be sure to treat them with care." Weiss replied back.

"Right... Very well. The data is being transferred to your Scroll now."

"Wonderful. That will be all then." Weiss said as she took back her Scroll.

But then, the woman asks, "Are you sure you wouldn't like me to patch you through to you father before you go?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Weiss replies.

"Well then, have a nice day." the woman said as she disappeared. Weiss frowned afterward and then she got up and left.

Somewhere else in Vale, Ruby and Penny were talking...

"I wish I could help you, Ruby, but I don't know anything about those men." Penny said.

Ruby asks, "Well, what happen to you that night? We were all together and then you just disappeared. Though, Edward thought you just went home for the night, since it was an eventful night for us, but I know you wouldn't leave without saying goodbye."

"My father asked me not to venture too far, but, oh you have to understand, my father loves me very much. He just worries a lot." Penny replies.

"Heh, believe me, I know the feeling, so does Edward, even though he lost his father at the age of thirteen."

Penny was shocked and asks, "That's terrible! What about his mother?"

Ruby sighed and answered, "He said that his mother died when he was born. You also have to understand that he was born underground in a bunker in a wasteland. Over there, it's so dangerous that he says, in quote, ' _not even the creatures of Grimm dare to tread._ ' He's a vigilante, Penny. He risks his own life more times than you think to protect the innocent. That's why he's attending at Beacon; to help the people and make his parents proud, since his family believes in an afterlife."

Penny was speechless on Ruby's answer, but she nodded.

Then Ruby asks, "But, why not let us know you were okay?"

Penny answered, "I, was asked, not to talk to you. Or Weiss... or Blake... or Yang. Anybody really."

"Was your dad that upset?" Ruby asked.

"No, it wasn't my father." Penny said.

Before Ruby can ask, a voice came out, "The AK130 has been a standard security model of Remnant for several years. And they have done a fine job, would't you agree? Wouldn't you agree?"

After the whole introduction _**(Because I'm a little lazy at the moment**_ **:|** _ **)**_ , Then, these two Atlesian soldiers noticed them and Penny ran off, with Ruby following behind.

XXXXXX

' _Edward's POV..._ '

We arrived at where Yang took us, but not to meet her old friend, but for the surprise.

"What is this surprise?! It's driving me insane, here!" I asked, irritated.

Yang smirked as we walked up to a cloth sheet covering up something. She then said, "Well, you ARE going to be driving, for sure."

Neptune and I looked at each other and I looked back at her and asked, "Huh?"

She then pulled the sheet and revealed a retro-style motorcycle, which almost looks exactly like the ones, known as the Lone Wanderer Motorcycles, back in the Wasteland. _ **(From Fallout 4)**_

Then Yang shouted, "Say hello to your new ride, Eddie!"

I was speechless here. Here I am, staring at the bike, which is matted black, retro-style tires, and, in fact, even has the name, ' _Lone Wanderer_ ' on the fuel tank.

"H-how...? W-wha...?" I stuttered.

I then looked at Yang and asked, "How did you get the money for this?"

"Actually, my dad insisted on getting you a ride, as thanks for protecting Ruby AND being a great mentor to us!" Yang answered.

"You told him, didn't you?" I asked Yang.

"Well... he did asked me and Ruby about you at one point when we got in contact with him, and we told him about you, your accomplishments, and the like." Yang shrugged.

I hopped on my new ride, started up the engine, and listen to it, how Yang would say, ' _purr_ '.

I laughed internally and then turned to Yang and said, "Thank you, so much, Yang. Also, tell your father that I thanked him."

Yang smiled and said, "Of course, Eddie!"

Then she and Neptun hooped on her ' _Bumblebee_ ' and then Yang smirked and teased, "And might I say, you're looking fine on her." as she giggled.

"DANGIT YANG!" I yelled.

To be Continued...


	21. Chapter 19: Mech Battle

**Chapter 19: Mech Battle**

 _Location: Kingdom of Vale Year: Unknown_

Yang, Neptune, and I were heading to a nightclub of sort, which I never heard of, to meet up with Yang's old friend of hers. We arrived there and it looked like a weird, secret casino, since it does have a neon sign, but well hidden.

"C'mon guys, my friend's right in there." Yang said as she gets off her bike.

Neptune seemed a little dazed and only replied, "Cool..."

I dismount my bike and turned off the engine, then followed Yang with Neptune following behind.

Then Yang whispered to me, "Alright Eddie, just let me do the talking. Also, Blake told me, Ruby, and Weiss that you go by your codename, Courier, to hide your identity from your enemies, when present to them."

I replied with a chuckle, "Heh, I was about to tell you that, but I guess that saves me the trouble."

Yang nodded and turned to Neptune, "Neptune, when you're with Eddie here and your around suspicious people, refer to him as the Courier, alright?"

Neptune nodded and replies, "Yeah, got it."

Then Neptune asks, "Also, where exactly is... here?"

XXXXXX

' _3rd POV..._ '

Jr. was just relaxing at the bar while his club was active until...

"Hurry, close the door! She's coming!" one of the two henchmen yelled.

Then the two henchmen ran in and immiedietly closed the door, while Jr. walks up and asks, "What are you two idiots doing!?"

But the henchmen were talking over each other, making it difficult to understand them and the door exploded open. Then out of the smoke, three figures came out, but one was familiar, Yang. But the other two, one was a guy with blue hair while the other was also a guy, but wore a brown duster, armor chestplate, and a gasmask/helmet combo with red, glowing eyes.

"Guess who's back!" Yang shouted.

XXXXXX

' _Edward's POV..._ '

"Guess who's back!" Yang shouted, only to recieve a bunch of guns aiming at us by the familiar henchmen from the store and the club music cutting out.

I pulled out my Ranger Sequoia and readied myself, and leaned over to Yang and asked, "Are you sure you're friends with them, Yang?"

"Of course, ' _Courier_ '." She answered while giving me a wink at ' _Courier_ '.

Then Neptune asks, "Yeah, so could you define ' _friend_ ' for us?"

Then a voice came out, "Stop, stop! Nobody shoot."

Then came in a guy in a formal outfit and having black hair and beard. Then he said, "Blondie! You're here. Why?"

Yang answered, "YOU still owe me a drink."

Then Yang began to drag him over while his henchmen stepped aside. I holstered my gun, and heard Neptune, "Whoa, what a woman."

I leaned over and said, "Yeah, don't get any bright ideas, Neptune. She's... well... let's just say she punched an Ursa to death over about losing one, small strand of hair of hers."

Neptune looked at me in a shocked expression and said, "Yikes."

Then Neptune looked past me and I followed his gaze, and saw a pair of girls, who are twins, but one wearing white while the other, red. Then Neptune said to them, "'Sup."

I then proceeded to slap the back of his head and I replied, "Save yourself for Weiss, Neptune, alright? Remember that Weiss actually likes you."

Then I heard one of the girls began, "So... uh..."

I turned back to them and the one in white asks, "Why the name, Courier?"

Then the one in red followed up, "Yeah, why Courier?"

I proceeded to answer, "Well, one; it used to be a job of mine until I was knocked out and taken hostage, then I woke up and recieved a bullet to the head, which I survived, obviously, over a goddamn poker chip made out of platinum, which actually turned out to be some advance data chip, which made sense why those guys tried to kill me over it. And two; well... think of it like this: For I am both the messenger and the message. To my enemies, I am the Angel of Death, but to my friends and allies, I am the Messiah. I carry the message of justice for the innocent and death to my foes."

The twins proceeded to stare at me in awe and fear, then the one in white, "I... guess that makes sense."

I nodded and replied, "Don't worry, though. You're not my enemies, as long as we are not attacked out of hatred by any of you. But I still need to hide my identity, either way."

They both nodded and walked away from us. Then Neptune asked me, "Is that true? That someone put a round into your head and survived?"

I nodded and answered, "Yeah, and at point-blank range, too. But before and after that, I recieved thousands of them and easily survived, but mostly I wore a helmet at the time. That moment though, I wasn't. I was also burned, blown up, stabbed, and other ways a thousand times and survived. You could say that I am a one-man army."

Neptune was almost speechless and all he could say was, "Wow."

Then we proceeded towards Yang and the guy at the bar.

After we explained to the guy, Jr., and asked him questions, he replied, "I don't know!"

"How can you not know?" Yang asked.

"I haven't talked to him. I haven't seen him since the night you first came in here. He paid upfront, I lent him my men, and none of them came back." Jr. answered.

As I chuckled nervously, Jr., Yang, and Neptune looked at me, and I replied, "Yeah... uh... about that. I was at the Dust store with her * _points at Yang_ * sister, Ruby, when Torchwick with your men came in to robb the place. Let's just say we beat the shit out of them afterward. Though Torchwick did escaped afterward, but... yeah. I guess it's me and Ruby's fault."

Jr. sighed and asked Yang, "Uh, who is this spook, Blonie? He's giving me the creeps. But what he said does explain about what happen to my men, though."

"Don't worry about him * _points to me_ * or him * _points to Neptune_ *, worry about me if I don't find what I want!" Yang answered.

"I already told you everything! Torchwick hired my boys and I guess he wasn't happy with them!" Jr. replied and then glares at his men, who are slacking, then continued, "Which is something I can relate to!"

Then some of his men stopped at his comment and the Yang said, "C'mon, Neptune, Courier. Let's go."

I gave Jr. a two-finger salute and said, "See ya around, sir, and have a good night."

Jr. nodded and I proceeded to follow Yang and Neptune. Neptune asks, "We get what we need?"

"Well, we got everything we can. Hopefully the rest of the team is having better luck." Yang replied.

We arrived outside and mounted on our bikes, until we recieved a call from our Scrolls. It was Sun, calling for backup and that Torchwick was chasing him and Blake in a mech suit known as the Atlesian Paladin. We immeidietly revved up our motorcycles and hurried to the area, and I thought, ' _I guess it's time for me to introduce Torchwick, fully, to my mech suit. It's time for some payback._ '

XXXXXX

The rest of Team RWBY arrived to aid Blake and Sun and I was seperated from Yang and Neptune and drove on the bridge above them. The entire team tried to defeat Torchwick, but failed. Even Yang failed to destroy it, since he was able to counter-attack.

I thought to myself, ' _So, that's the Atlesian Paladin, huh? This should be fun._ '

There was a gap between the team and Torchwick and I switched to my Winterized T-51b Power Armor and equiped myself with my ' _CZ57 Avenger_ ' Minigun and yelled out down below, "Death from above!"

XXXXXX

' _3rd POV..._ '

Moments before, team RWBY failed to take down Torchwick, who was in the Atlesian Paladin, and they stood there, gasping.

Torchwick laughed and asked, "Hah! Where's your Courier now, girls?!"

Ruby asked Yang, "Where is he, Yang?!"

"I-I don't know! We got seperated and-" Yang answered but was interrupted by a voice, screaming, "Death from above!"

Then Edward fell from above off one of the bridges within his power armor, weilding... a chaingun?!

Edward stood between the team and Torchwick and he said to him, "Hey, Torchwick! Ya miss me?"

XXXXXX

' _Edward's POV..._ '

"Hey, Torchwick! Ya miss me?" I yelled at him.

I then heard him starting to curse to himself and then replied back, yelling, "I swear, where ever those girls are at, you're always there!"

"It's because I'm their mentor, dumbass!" I yelled back.

I heard him growled and said, "This time, you can't stop me! Especially with your pathetic armor, Courier!"

I grinned, chuckled out a laugh, and replied, "Let's see about that!"

I then turned to the girls and said, "Don't worry, I got this! Take a breather, alright?"

They all nodded, still gasping for air in exhaustion, and proceeded to ready myself for one hell of a battle.

I made my first move and charged full ahead at him, catching him off-guard. I rammed into him, causing him to violently stagger backward and proceeded to revved up my Avenger, showering a bullet storm upon him. He tried to swing at me, but I countered him and switched from my ' _Avenger_ ' to my ' _Tesla Beaton Prototype_ ' and blasted him, causing some damage to his systems.

But this was not enough, since he was still in full operation and started to fire some rockets at me. I took it head-on and afterward, heard Torchwick laugh. I switched from my Tesla Cannon to my Protonic Inversal Axe in one hand and the other, a pulse grenade. As I walked out of the smoke, Torchwick saw that I was still standing, and asked in shock, "Wha-! How did you survive that?!"

I chuckled deeply and replied, "This Power Armor is the Winterized T-51b. This thing is completely invincible and plus, this is not the first time I've been blown up."

Again, I heard him growled and then charged at my in rage. I grinned and used my jet pack to fly up, then slammed back down to the ground, causing a shockwave from the explosive vent, making Torchwick stagger back and took the opportunity to use my axe and cut off his left arm. I then stucked the Pulse Grenade onto him and jumped back. The grenade exploded and emitted a pulse, causing the suit to perminatly short-circuited. Then I looked back at the girls, who are rested up, and yelled at them, "Alright, finish this, once and for all!"

Then Yang charged, in full rage, and completely annilating the mech suit into pieces, with Torchwick unharmed.

I overheard him, yelling, "I just got this thing cleaned!"

Then Yang fire a round at him from her Ember Celica, only to be blocked by someone.

Her shot, which was an explosive round and is from her shotgun gauntlet, was blocked... by a girl's elegant umbrella... AN UMBRELLA, GODDAMNIT!

Yang stepped back as I stepped up, as we watched a girl with pink and brown hair, like the ice cream from the shop that the girls took me to one time, and same thing goes with her eyes. She was wearing an elegant outfit, but might I say, she's kinda short. But I can tell she's a lot older than she looks. She was silent, and figured either she chose to be silent or she's a mute.

Torchwick then said, "Ladies. Courier. Ice Queen."

I heard Weiss, "Hey!"

"Neo, if you will?" Torchwick said.

Then ' _Neo_ ' proceeded to bow to us and... winked at me? I thought to myself, ' _She's a cocky one, ain't she?_ '

But then, I realized that neither of them attempted to escape and proceeded to stand there. Yang was about to charge, until I stopped her, saying, "Wait, hold up, Yang! This doens't seem right. They're just standing there when they could've already try to escape right about now."

Yang nodded and the Neo seemed to frown at us, as if trying to figure out why I stopped Yang. But then, I sensed something to my left and immediately switched from my Protonic Inversal Axe to my Automatic Rifle, or BAR that I found while at the Sierra Madre Casino adventure, immediately fire at the direction, revealing a VTOL with Torchwick and Neo on it, flying off. I also saw that Neo was quite shocked that I was able to sense them. I also noticed that the illusion shattered to pieces after I shot at the VTOL.

I said out loud, "It appears that it was an illusion; a mind trick. Quite clever, but not clever enough."

Then the VTOL flew off into the distance and out of sight.

Then Ruby, Blake, and Weiss ran up to me and Yang, and Yang asks, "How did you know that it was a mind trick, Eddie?"

"I... really don't know, to be honest. I guess that my perception is far too great for any illusion to fool me." I answered.

I then turned towards the same direction where the VTOL went, and concluded, "So... I guess he's gotten himself an new henchman. I caught her name, though. Neo."

Then Weiss replies, "Yeah, I guess she really made our plans... fall apart?"

I sighed as she said that, along with the others sighing as well. I simply said, "No... just... no, Weiss..."

Then Yang followed up, "Yeah, Weiss. Never do that again."

Then Weiss shouted, "What?! But you do it, Yang!"

"There's a time and place for jokes." Yang explained.

"Was this not it?" Weiss asked.

"No, it's just wasn't very good." Yang said as she walked away.

Then Weiss followed, "Well, at least I'm trying."

I sighed again before I flew back up to the same bridge I jumped off, switched back to my NCR Veteran Ranger Combat Armor and the Ranger Sequoia, and mounted on my bike and rode off, heading back to Beacon.

I then thought, ' _Well, another eventful night. These girls seem to get into these troubling situation as I do._ ' as I ended with a chuckle.

To be Continued...


	22. Chapter 20: Know Thy Enemy

**Chapter 20: Know Thy Enemy**

 _Location: Beacon Academy, Vale Year: Unknown_

Me, along with teams RWBY and JNPR, was watching Pyrrha fighting against team CRDL, and... let's just say that Pyrrha was winning, 'cause of her ability to control polarity and the fact she's very skilled.

As the match ended, Pyrrha came out victorious and Glynda concluded, "And that's the match."

Cardin, while groaning, said, "Lucky shot. Ugh." and falls over.

Glynda continues, "Well done, Miss Nikos. You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament."

Pyrrha replied, "Thank you, professor."

"Alright, now I know that's a tough act to follow, but we have time for one more sparring match. Any volunteers?" Glynda asks out.

Then a hand rose up and replied, "I'll do it."

As Glynda adjusted her glasses, she replies, "Mercury, is it?"

I look at him and noticed the same guy who was with the two girls that I didn't really trust.

"Very well. Let's find you an opponent." Glynda said.

"Actually, I want to fight... him." Mercury said as he pointed towards me.

Glynda looks at me and asks, "So? What do you say, Mr. Vaughn?"

I shrugged and said, "Eh, fuck it. Why not." as I stood up.

As me and Mercury walked up to the stage, I stared at him as he approached. He made his combat stance and I just stood there, popped my neck, continued to stare at him.

Mercury asks out to me, "Ready to get your ass kicked?"

I simply said, "Oh please. Like you can stop me. A bullet to the head didn't kill me, so I doubt you can even take me on."

He raised an eyebrow at my response and charged at me and tried to kick me. I simply ducked and punched him in the gut. He staggered back and I stood my ground, unflinching.

He back-flipped away from me and stood there, as if analyzing me. I simply asked, "Come on, I ain't got all day, ya know."

He charged again and attacked by kicking me, but I kept on blocking him and punched him again, but to his chest, and flew back.

I yelled out, "Is that all you got or are you holding back on me?"

Then he jumped into the air and attempted to kick me as I thought, ' _What's with him and kicking?_ '

Again, I kept on blocking and then was able to kick me, staggering me. But I stayed my ground and taunted, "Oh come on, you gotta do better than that."

He charged at me again and tried to pull up a swing kick, but I ducked again and punched him in the gut yet again.

He staggers back and I began to walk towards him, fist clenched, and was about to pull off a punch until...

"I forfeit."

I stopped in motion and lowered my fist. I then walked away, replying, "Next time, choose whoever you want to fight against, wisely, or else you'll end up embarrassing yourself. Also..."

I paused as I stopped walking, and glanced over my shoulder and finished, "Do not waste my time again." Then I continued to walk away.

I overheard Mercury growled at my statement. Then classed ended and Glynda spoke up, "That is all for today. And remember, the dance is this weekend, but you all have your first mission on Monday. I will not accept any excuses."

XXXXXX

' _3rd POV..._ '

As Mercury walked out, Emerald saw clearly that he was frustrated. Emerald asks, "So... it looks like you gotten your ass handed to you by Vaughn, huh?"

"Shut up! That stupid piece of shit was taunting me!" Mercury replied.

Emerald said, "You should know that he doesn't trust any of us, right?"

"Yeah, I know. I was trying to figure him out. It turns out he's really that experienced. It's like he knew before-hand on what I was about to do." Mercury stated.

Then they both glanced at Edward, who was with Team RWBY and JNPR, and Emerald stated, "I can see why Cinder thinks of him as a threat. He really is dangerous."

XXXXXX

' _Edward's POV..._ '

I proceed to the balcony to meet up with Pyrrha and Jaune for our combat training. Jaune made some really good progress. Both me and Pyrrha can see potential in him and we continued to teach him, for he has much more to learn.

After we trained Jaune, I stated to him, "Well done, Jaune. You're getting the hang of it. Keep this up and you might be one of the most skilled warriors in history."

"Well, I learned from two of the best, afterall." Jaune replied back.

Pyrrha smiled gratefully as I nodded, grinning. Then Pyrrha asks Jaune, "So, are you ready to move on to Aura?"

Then Jaune answered, but hesitantly, "I'm actually thinking maybe we just skip Aura tonight. Might go on a jog or something."

"Come on, I know you get frustrated, but you must keep trying. I'm sure we'll discover your Semblance any day now." Pyrrha said.

"Yeah, Jaune. You just gotta keep working on it. If you're dedicated enough to be a skilled warrior, then you must continue to train in order to do so, no matter what." I followed up.

"That's... not it. It's just, * _sigh_ * it's dumb." Jaune said.

Pyrrha asks, "What is it?"

Jaune remained quiet and Pyrrha walked up to him, "Jaune, you know you can tell us, right Edward?" she asked as she turned to me.

"Yeah, Jaune." I responded.

Jaune sighed and said, "It's... it's Weiss."

I raised an eyebrow and asked, "Uh, what about Weiss, Jaune?"

"I asked her to the dance and... she shot me down. Big surprise, right?" Jaune answered with a chuckle.

I then began, "Wowowow, hold up. Since when did you have a crush on Weiss?"

"Uh, since the first day when I first meet you and Ruby." Jaune answered.

A brief moment of silence came, then I started to laugh at myself, saying, "Oh my God, how could I have been so fucking dense?! And I'm the most observing person!"

At first, Jaune and Pyrrha frowned when I began to laugh, but then after they heard my statement why I was laughing, they began to laugh with me.

Pyrrha began after our laugh, "Yeah, I guess you were dense about that."

I nodded, still chuckling, and Pyrrha turned to Jaune, "Well, I believe the saying goes, ' _There's plenty of fish in the sea._ '"

"Yeah, that's easy for you to say. I bet you've probably got guys clamoring each other just to ask you out." Jaune said.

Pyrrha chuckled and said, "You'd be surprised."

"Oh please, if you don't get a date to the dance, I'll wear a dress. Heh." Jaune said as he walked away from us.

"Wait, what?" I asked in confusion.

XXXXXX

' _3rd POV..._ '

"...There's Pyrrha Nikos, and finally... Edward Vaughn, aka, the ' _Courier_ '." Emerald listed.

"Ah, the invincible girl and the Veteran spook." Cinder said.

Mercury stated, "Nikos' smart, but I wouldn't say invincible. But Edward, on the other hand, he might be. He seemed to be holding back when I fought him in a sparring match. He didn't even use a weapon and he didn't even struggled, what-so-ever."

"Do tell." Cinder replied.

"Nikos' Semblance is polarity, but you'd never know it just by watching...well, we can. Edward is just very experienced. He didn't even use his Aura at all. His reaction timing is perfected, he can somehow read your next move before-hand, and... well... he's a mixture of a wise man and an either cocky or confident young man, plus adding Veteran combat experience. He's going to be a much more bigger problem." Emerald concluded.

"Hmm, so people assume Miss Nikos' fated for victory when she's really taken fate into her own hands. And Edward has experienced violence his entire life AND is still sane enough to not break down from it. Interesting... add them both to the list. I do not know what Edward's Semblance is, but I bet it would be powerful." Cinder said.

As Emerald added Edward and Pyrrha to the list, Mercury said, "You should be able to take her no problem, but I still don't know about Edward. He's still a mystery to us all."

"Oh, Mercury, it's not about overpowering the enemy, it's about taking away what power they have. And we will, in time." Cinder responded.

To be Continued...


	23. Chapter 21: Party

**Chapter 21: Party**

 _Location: Beacon Academy, Vale Year: Unknown_

I was helping team RWBY setting up the party in the ballroom and I noticed Weiss was asking to choose these two same sheets.

"Aren't they both they same?" Ruby asked.

Weiss sighed and said, "I don't even know why I asked."

Ruby slumped down while sitting at a table and I walked up to her, sat down, and asked, "Hey Ruby, what's the matter?"

"It's Blake. She's not going to the dance." Ruby answered.

"What? Why?" I asked.

"She's too focused on trying to take down Torchwick and the White Fang. She hadn't gotten any sleep, she doesn't focus, and she's more distant than before." Ruby answered.

I sighed and said, "I thought I told her to not focus so much on the topic."

Ruby looked at me and asked, "Wait, since when?"

"The same night when you forgot your board game in the library." I answered.

"Oh... right." She answered.

We then noticed Yang carrying a large, surround speaker and dropped it on the floor. Yang proceeded to walk to me and asked Ruby, "So, have you picked out a dress yet, Ruby?"

"What's the point? Who cares about the dance if Blake isn't going?" Ruby answered.

"Oh, don't worry. She's going." Yang answered.

Then Yang turned towards me and asked, "So, how about you, Eddie? Picked out a suit for the party?"

"Actually, Coco and Velvet brought me to a clothing store yesterday and helped me out picking a suit for the party, so I'm good to go." I answered.

 _'Flashback'_

 _I was in my dorm when I heard a knock at my door. I open it to be greeted by Coco and Velvet._

 _"Hey, Edward." Coco greeted._

 _"Hi, Edward." Velvet greeted._

 _I turned to them and replied, "Oh, hey Velvet. Hey Coco. What brings you two here?"_

 _Coco answered, "Well, we were just wondering if you got something to wear for this weekend, like a suit, since you're from the Wasteland. Do you have one?"_

 _"No. Why you asked?" I asked._

 _But then Coco and Velvet looked at each other and then drew their attention to me, and Coco replied, "Well, come with us. We can get you a suit at this clothing store I know. Come on!"_

 _Before I could respond, I was then dragged out of my dorm by Coco._

 _"Whoa! Slow down!" I replied._

 _'Flashback ended'_

Yang nodded and said, "Cool."

Then she turned towards her gaze in a different direction, and yelled out, "Weiss! I thought we agreed! No doilies!"

Weiss walked up to Yang and said, "If I don't get doilies, you don't get fog machines."

Then a set of doors opened and Sun and Neptune walked in, and Neptune asked, "Your dance is gonna have fog machines?"

"We were thinking about it." Weiss replies.

"That's pretty cool."

Then Sun asked out, "You ladies all excited for dress up?"

Ruby replied, "Pfft, yeah right."

Yang said, "Laugh all you want. I'll be turning heads tomorrow night."

I chuckled and joked, "Yeah, make sure you don't kill them by doing so."

"Hey!" Yang yelled, but noticed I was just joking. She giggled in response afterward.

Then Weiss asks Sun and Neptune, "What are you two wearing?"

"Uh, this." Sun answered, showing what he's wearing, which is the clothes on his back.

Then Neptune stepped up and said, "Ignore him, for he knows not what he says."

"Hey, I may have moved to Mistral, but I grew up in Vacuo. It's not exactly a shirt-and-tie kinda place." Sun said.

"Yeah, we've noticed." Yang deadpanned.

Then Sun asks, "So, uh... what does Blake think of all this? She still being all, ya know... Blakey?"

"Obviously." Weiss answered.

Ruby said, "I still can't think of a way to change her mind. How about you, Edward? Have any ideas?"

I shooked my head and said, "Sorry. I got nothing. Ya know I can't solve every problem, right?"

Then Yang said, "Guys. Trust me. Blake will be at the dance tomorrow." as she left the room.

I then got up from the chair and proceeded to the door and Weiss asked out to me, "Wait? Where are you going?"

"I'm going for a walk. I'll be back, don't worry." I answered as I exited the ballroom.

XXXXXX

' _Minutes later; Edward's POV..._ '

As I was walking, I began to remember my days at Vault 101, especially with Amata and the others. My train-of-thought was interrupted by a voice, "So, I assume you're Edward?"

I turned to face a girl that I sincerely hated: Cinder Fall.

"Yeah, what do you want?" I asked with venom on my tongue.

"Oh come now, do you really not trust me and my friends?" she asked.

"I will never trust you. No way, no how. Your eyes says it all, and I have seen my fair share of those looks when I wandered in the Wasteland." I answered, still distrustful to Cinder.

"Oh, so that's where you're from? This 'Wasteland'?" She responded.

"Yeah, where the Grimm, themselves' dare not to tread. Unless, they wanted to be torn to shreds by a group of Deathclaws and what-not. The Wasteland was scorched by war, by atomic fire and radiation, from the atomic warheads, that even one, can wipe out a metropolis and the surrounding area, miles out, burning everything and everyone in the process. So, where I'm from, we are no strangers to war." I answered.

"So, who was your people at war with? The Grimm? The Faunus? Who?" She asked.

"Where I'm from, there were no Grimm nor Faunus. We were at war with ourselves, against other humans, and who, I will not tell, at least, not you or your friends." I answered.

"Do you care for both human and Faunus, or just your kind?" she asked while smirking like a devil she is.

' _Bitch_.' I thought to myself before I answered, "Before the bombs fell, the nation that once stood, the United States of America, or U.S.A. for short, was made for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. A nation under in the name of God, our creator, to grant equal rights to everyone, no matter what race or gender they are. I am against any and all discrimination of all kinds, so yeah, I care for both my kind and Faunus."

I then said, "Now, if you would mind, I would like for you to leave me be."

As I started to walk away, Cinder then shouted, "Wait!" I stopped as she asked out, "I have one more question."

I paused for a moment, then replied, "What?"

"Why war? You know it's pointless, so why?" Cinder asked.

As I saw her smirked as she asked the question. I simply answered, "War... war never changes..."

She then frowned at my response, and I continued, "...But men do, through the roads we walk upon."

I then walked away, leaving the Cinder bitch alone as I thought to myself, ' _What is she really after?_ '

XXXXXX

' _Minutes before; Cinder's POV..._ '

As I exited my dorm, I noticed the ' _Courier_ ' and I smirked as I thought, ' _Ah, there he is. This is the perfect opportunity to gain knowledge about him._ '

I then asked out to him, "So, I assume you're Edward?"

He turned towards me, and I noticed the description written on his helmet, ' _FORGIVE ME MAMA_ '.

I thought, ' _Interesting..._ '

Edward answered with a hint of hate in his tone, "Yeah, what do you want?"

' _I guess he really doesn't trust us..._ ' I thought to myself as I replied, "Oh come now, do you really not trust me and my friends?"

He replied back, "I will never trust you. No way, no how. Your eyes says it all, and I have seen my fair share of those looks when I wandered in the Wasteland."

' _The Wasteland? So that's why there's no files about him; he's not from around here... interesting._ ' I thought to myself.

"Oh, so that's where you're from? This 'Wasteland'?" I replied.

"Yeah, where the Grimm, themselves' dare not to tread. Unless, they wanted to be torn to shreds by a group of Deathclaws and what-not. The Wasteland was scorched by war, by atomic fire and radiation, from the atomic warheads, that even one, can wipe out a metropolis and the surrounding area, miles out, burning everything and everyone in the process. So, where I'm from, we are no strangers to war." He answered.

I thought to myself in surprise, ' _The way he described the Atomic Warhead of his, that's even more powerful than the Dust Bomb by far. And what are Deathclaws?_ '

"So, who was your people at war with? The Grimm? The Faunus? Who?" I then asked him.

"Where I'm from, there were no Grimm nor Faunus. We were at war with ourselves, against other humans, and who, I will not tell, at least, not you or your friends." he answered grimly.

' _Hmm, he's quite stubborn, that's for sure._ ' I thought as I then asked as I grinned, "Do you care for both human and Faunus, or just your kind?"

"Before the bombs fell, the nation that once stood, the United States of America, or U.S.A. for short, was made for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. A nation under in the name of God, our creator, to grant equal rights to everyone, no matter what race or gender they are. I am against any and all discrimination of all kinds, so yeah, I care for both my kind and Faunus." he answered proudly.

' _He's very interesting..._ ' I thought to myself.

He then said, "Now, if you would mind, I would like for you to leave me be."

I then started to internally panic as I tried to think at least one more question, then it came to me. I then shouted to him, "Wait!"

He stopped as I shouted to him. I continued, "I have one more question."

He turned to me and asked, "What?"

I began to smirk as I asked, "Why war? You know it's pointless, so why?"

He just simply answered, "War... war never changes..."

I began to frown as he continued, "... But men do, through the roads we walk upon."

He then continued to walk away as I stood there, thinking to myself, ' _He's really gotten my curiosity._ '

XXXXXX

' _Edward's POV; hours later..._ '

I was in my dorm, getting ready for the party as I switched from my Desert Ranger Combat Armor to my suit. My suit coat and pants was a normal black color, my button shirt was white, and my tie was red. Of course, I kept my Pipboy on, like I ever take it off, and I equip myself ' _Maria_ ', but concealed, just in case of an emergency.

I thought to myself, ' _Now that I think about it, I should've brought Benny's suit or that suit I found while at my time in the Sierra Madre Casino before I went to Big Mountain. Oh well._ '

As I came out of my dorm, I saw Ruby in her dress and stumbling around in her high heels.

She haven't noticed me and I yelled out to her, "Having trouble there, Rubes?"

Ruby turned to me as I walked towards her, as she replies back, "Yeah, I'm not used to wearing high heels. How does Weiss fights in them, I will not know."

I chuckled at her response. She then had a good look at me and replied, "Wow. You look nice, Edward."

I smiled and replied, "Thank you. You look nice as well, Rubes."

She slightly blushed and replied, "Thank you, but after this, I'm not wearing it again. I'm not very fond wearing a dress and high heels."

"Same here. I'm more comfortable wearing my armor than a snazzy suit." I replied with a chuckle.

She chuckles with me, then she asks, "Hey, Edward?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you hold my arm so I won't fall down on the way to the party?" She asked.

"Yeah, just hold on." I said, grabbing her arm as we made our way to the party.

After a few close calls, we finally arrived at the party. Yang has her eyebrow raised and asked, "What's going on?"

I answered, "Ruby asked me to hold her so she won't fall over while on the way here, that's all, Yang."

She smiled and replied, "Oh, okay. That makes sense. She is very clumsy when it comes to wearing high heels. Also Ruby, you look beautiful!"

Ruby groaned and replied, "Ugh, Yang!"

Then Yang turned to me and teased, "And YOU look handsome." as she purred.

"Don't get any bright ideas, Yang." I replied.

"Oh, come on, you know I was just teasing with you. You may be 15 years old on the outside, but you're still 23 on the inside, so you're a little old for my taste." Yang said with a smirk.

Then we heard a familiar voice, "Hey."

We turned to see Blake in a dress with Sun, who was also dressed up, kind of.

I was the first to respond, "Hey! You actually came, Blake! What changed your mind?"

Blake answered, "Well, Yang was the one who talked to me, and then I remembered about what you said that night, so I decided to give it a go."

Ruby cheered, "Yay! Blake's here-Woah!"

Ruby almost lost her balance and I caught her. She replied, "Thanks, Edward."

"No problem, Rubes."

As Blake and Sun walked on by us, Yang smirked at us and said, "Told you she would come."

I smirked back and replied, "Well, who said I was doubting you?"

XXXXXX

' _After a few minutes..._ '

Me and Ruby walked and talked as everybody enjoyed themselves until we noticed Ozpin standing nearby. We walked up to him as I replied, "Oh, hey Ozpin! What brings you here?"

"Just checking to make sure all of you are not doing anything troubling." he replied.

The Ozpin and I heard Ruby complained, "Ugh, stupid lady stilts."

Ozpin replied to Ruby, "Not enjoying yourself, Ruby?"

"Oh! No. Everything's fine. I'm just not much of a dansey, pansey... dancey girl." Ruby replied.

I replied as well, "And I'm not much of a fancy suit-wearing type of guy."

"Well, you can't spend your entire life on the battlefield, even if you may want to." Ozpin replied.

"Well, technically I have." I added.

Ozpin turned to me and replied, "Right, but your life began anew here, so take this time to enjoy every moment that life gives you, for it will not last forever."

I nodded and replied, "True."

Then Ozpin said, "Well, if you think about it, fighting and dancing aren't so different. Two partners interlocked."

He then chuckled and added, "Although, one wrong move on the ballroom merely leads to a swollen foot."

Ruby added, "Or a twisted ankle..."

Ozpin continued, "It's not everyday that friends are able to come together like this. Time has a way of testing our bonds, but it's nights like these that can help keep them stronger than ever. Nights like these are ones we'll never forget."

He's right. All those times when I spend with my friends while in the Wasteland, we made bonds with one another that gave strength to our trust. How we helped each other in times in need, though. Like back in the Capital, how I always stood up for Amata back in Vault 101, how I gave kindness to Butch as I help to save his mother from the Radroaches, even after all the times he bullied me. How I released Fawkes, the Super Mutant, in Vault 87, and in return, not just helped me retrieve the G.E.C.K., but as well as to come all the way to rescue me from being imprisoned from the Enclave. How Sarah Lyons stood with me during the times she could when we were in the field, in battle or so.

And while in the Mojave, how Victor saved me from death, How I helped Boone to avenge his wife more times than not. How I helped Veronica and the Brotherhood to make peace with the NCR and others, as well as with Arcade with his past. How I opened Ulysses' eyes and fought side by side, along with ED-E, or who I called, Ralphie, against the entire Divide. How I bonded with the tribes of Zion and aided Follows-Chalk and Waking-Cloud, along with Joshua Graham and Daniel to fight off against the White Legs.

The point is, Ozpin's right. Times during with friends would strengthen our bonds and make a connection to help one another.

"You're right, Ozpin. I can definitely see why you're the Headmaster. You're able to see past school studies and observe life itself, and make a lesson out of it. You are very wise, sir." I replied to Ozpin.

He smiled and nodded, and walked away from us. As Ruby and I continued to smile, I thought to myself, ' _This world is so unique, with it's way of life and it's people. No matter if it is infested with those monstrosities beyond those walls and with the White Fang, I feel more at peace here. But like I always say, ' **The Calm before the Storm** ', and we will be ready._'

To be Continued...


	24. Chapter 22: Party Infiltration

**Chapter 22: Party Infiltration**

 _Location: Beacon Academy, Vale Year: Unknown_

As the party progressed through the night, Ruby and I hung out near the punch bowl, drinking some punch and chatting to each other.

"So, when you first left Vault 101, you went to this town called Megaton and disarmed a warhead that destroyed your world and was armed and you successfully disarmed it?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, because I just couldn't sleep well at night, knowing they could all die from it. I didn't ask for any caps, which is currency mind you, and afterward, I was rewarded a home, with the key and bill of ownage. When I first entered into my new home, I saw that there was a Mister Handy name Wadsworth waiting for me." I answered.

"A Mister Handy?" Ruby asked.

"It's one of the many robots across the Wasteland. The Mister Handy model is a personal robotic butler. There's also a similar model, Miss Nanny, is just the same as the Mister Handy, but more like a female version, due to the differences of voices. Then there is the Mister Gusty and is made for military purposes. Plus it is equip with a plasma weapon instead of the usual sawblade the Miss Nanny and Mister Handy have." I said.

"Cool, what other robots are there?" Ruby asked, with excitement in her tone.

"There is the Protectron models, wich are average robots. There are versions like construction, medical, law enforcment, military, and others. There are the Enclave Eyebots, which are small, roundish, metal ball that hovers around. Of course, it's made by the infamous Enclave, and while my time in the Mojave, I meet two of them who accompanied with me. One known as ED-E, or Eddie for short. The other one was also ED-E, but was slightly different. Plus it like the name Ralphie better, so that's what I called him. Rest in peace, little buddy." I said.

"I'm sorry, Edward." Ruby said, apologitically.

"It's alright. Where was I... oh, and there were the Securetrons, but only around the Mojave. They have these television screens with faces on them and the first one I meet was the one who dug me out of the grave after I was shot in the head and brought me to the town's doc. His name was Victor, and think of him as a robot cowboy." I said.

"Awesome!" Ruby said.

"Then there are the awesome, but terrifying ones known as Sentry Bots. Those things are mostly for military or heavy security, 'cause they're equipped with either a chaingun, a gatling laser, missile launcher, and/or hellfire rockets. Plus, they're big and tough to kill. Next, is the Assaultrons, which are also military-grade and are as dangerous. Think of them as assassin robots, with a powerful laser eye."

"Ooooo." Ruby said in awe.

"Then there are these rare ones called Robobrains, which uses actual human brains to operate."

"What?! That's not right!" Ruby said in disgust.

"Well, actually, they were around before the bombs fell, and those people actually volunteered to have their brains but into a jar attached to a robot."

"Oh, okay." Ruby replied.

"Then last, but not least, there was the one, the only, the great and powerful, giant robot..."

Ruby's eyes started to shine with excitement as I continued, "...known as Liberty Prime. Though unfinished by the U.S. due to some difficulty, he was finished by the Brotherhood of Steel in the Capital Wasteland to defeat the Enclave. He was originally built to liberate Anchorage, Alaska, from the Red Chinese Communists, during the Third World War. He uses a laser built into his eye and annihilates any enemies, along with Mark 28 nukes that he tosses at clustered areas."

"Awesome!" Ruby replied.

"But, unfortunately, he was later destroyed in battle by an orbital strike by the Enclave."I said in sorrow.

"No! Not LP!" Ruby teared up.

"And his last words were, ' _I died, so that Democracy shall live._ ' He was the most greatest robot that was ever built, fighting in the name of freedom." I ended.

"At least he went down, fighting." Ruby said.

"Yeah, and I just realized we just over-reacted around at the end." I stated as I chuckled.

Ruby chuckled with me and replied, "Yeah, I guess we did, but still, I would've love to meet him."

"I know you would, but believe me, the Brotherhood are trying to rebuild him, so he may come back." I replied.

That got Ruby's hopes up. She cheered, "Yes!"

Then we saw Jaune walking up to us and said, "I see that you two are hiding at the punch bowl, too."

"Yup." Ruby replied.

"Yeah." I replied.

Then Jaune said, "To the socially awkward."

And we clinked our cups together and ruby said to Jaune, "Sorry things didn't work out with Weiss."

"Meh, it's fine; Neptune's pretty cool. I get why she went with him." Jaune said.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"Well, come on. Not many people can pull off blue hair." Jaune said as he took a drink.

Ruby said, "No, I mean Weiss came to the dance alone."

Then Jaune responded by coughing and gagging, then asked, "Uh, what?!"

"Yeah, she said she had too much to focus on to worry about boys." Ruby said.

After a short moment of silence, Jaune finally responded as he hands Ruby his cup, "Hold my punch."

Ruby took the cup and started his way towards Neptune. I replied, "Ugh, this may not end well, or maybe it will, who knows."

XXXXXX

' _After a few minutes..._ '

We were on the second floor and Ruby said to Yang, "And you did a great job planning it, too."

"Aww, thanks!" Yang replied as she hugged Ruby tightly.

"It wasn't all me, though. Weiss did a lot, too." Yang said.

I chuckled at them and then, we noticed Neptune walking over to Weiss, and talked.

I smiled and thought, ' _Good work, Jaune._ '

Then Yang sighed and said, "Tomorrow, it's back to work."

"Well, I'm sure we can handle whatever gets thrown at us, especially when we have Edward here." Ruby said.

I replied to them, "I'm sure you guys can manage on your own without me."

But then Ruby said, "Except for that." as she pointed out.

We then heard laughter and we saw Jaune... wearing a dress?!

I sighed, face-palmed myself, and muttered, "Oh dear lord..."

We were all confused at this, until I remembered that one night.

"Oh yeah, right." I replied.

"What?" Ruby and Yang asked.

"Jaune did mentioned after me and Pyrrha trained him, that if Pyrrha didn't get a date to the dance, he'll wear a dress. But I didn't took him seriously..." I replied.

Then both of them laughed at this as we watched the dance-off. But then Ruby nudges me and points out the window, saying, "Look, do you see that person?"

As I looked closer, I noticed a woman running on top of the roof towards a tower.

I then turned to Ruby and asked, "Shall we investigate, Ruby?"

Ruby nodded and we both made our way to the tower.

After a few minutes, we arrived at the elevator to the tower. I switched to my Desert Ranger Combat Armor and pulled out ' _Maria_ ' and cocked it, while Ruby pulled out her Cresent Rose. We then stepped into the elevator and went up.

As we arrived at the floor, we didn't see anyone there, but I yelled out, "We know you're in here! Come out with your hands up!"

No one answered. I yelled out again, "I will not ask again, so don't make come looking for you, 'cause I will put a goddamn bullet into your knee when I do! Now come out NOW!"

This time, a person rose up from behind one of the terminals. She wore a black, skin-tight suit and a black mask to cover her face. I wasn't able to see her eyes due to the darkness, and her hair style was almost like a ponytail.

As she slowly stepped away from the terminals, I yelled out, "Hands behind your head, now!" with my gun pointed at her and Ruby did the same with her Cresent Rose.

As the intruder puts her hands behind her head, she began to grab something, then she quickly pulled a what looks like an archer's bow with blades at each end, and draw three arrows embedded with fire. As she fires, I immediately reacted and blocked Ruby's way and fire three shots to deflect the arrows, but resulted of them blowing up. As the smoke cleared, the intruder was nowhere to be found.

"Damn it! She's gone!" I yelled out. Then I took out my Scroll and send a message to Ozpin about the occurrence.

After that, the elevator doors opened and revealed general Ironwood, who saw us in shock.

I immediately said to him, "General! We had an intruder within this tower, but she got away by firing three explosive arrows at us. She escaped when they exploded, sir!"

Ironwood nodded and replied, "Alright, I'll have my men on high alert. Thank you for the update, but I want you two to stay up here for the moment, alright?"

Ruby nodded and I replied, "Yes, sir."

As Ruby took a seat, Ironwood then said to me, "So, you must be Edward."

"Yes, I am, sir." I replied.

"Drop the ' _sir_ ', Edward. You're not in the military and I'm not your superior." he said.

"Sorry, general. I'm used to it since my time in the New California Republic, or NCR for short." I responded.

He nodded and replied, "I see. Well, when Ozpin told me about you, I thought you were a spy for the White Fang, but the recording of you on your initiation day said otherwise."

"Hey, if I heard of a random stranger claiming to be from a different world, I would have reacted the same way, somewhat." I responded.

"Glad you understand, Edward. Also, what was that armored mech suit of yours from the video?" He asked.

"It's the Winterized T-51b Power Armor. Of course there are other models such as the T-45b, the T-60b, the X-01; normal and Tesla version, and the X-02; normal, Tesla, and Hellfire versions. My Power Armor is my very first one, but it requires training to even operate it, but I had training." replied.

"Interesting, but right now, I need to know who the intruder was, who she looked like. The person is a she, right?"

"That's right. She's not Faunus, I'll tell you that. She wore a black, skin-tight suit and a black face mask. I couldn't see her eyes, though, but she had black, long hair in a ponytail, and uses a weapon that's an archer's bow and possibly twin blades, since the ends on the bow were bladed. She might also have this thing for fire and explosives, so be careful about that, and... that's it." I replied.

Ironwood nodded and replied, "Thank you. I will contact Ozpin about it."

"I already did, general. It was before you arrive moments before, but go ahead and send him the message, just in case." I replied.

Then he nodded and I went over to Ruby and sat down. Ruby asks me, "Who do you think it could be?"

"I really don't know, at least, not without any solid evidence, that is." I replied.

XXXXXX

' _Somewhere else, in the city ruins outside of Vale..._ '

Everything was quiet, as the Grimm slept, until a bright flash of light erupted inside a building, hidden from view, and emerged a certain, metal sphere. It hovered and then a sound erupted out from it, " _ **RALPHIE! FLY FAR, FLY FAST!**_ "

To be Continued...

 _ **(Note: So, what do you think, huh? ED-E from the DLC Lonesome Road, or who I like to call Ralphie, appearing in Remnant alive and well... well not alive because he's-you get the idea. Also, let me know what you think and I hope you enjoy!)**_


	25. Chapter 23: Zwei

**Chapter 23: Zwei**

 _Location: Beacon Academy, Vale Year: Unknown_

Ruby and I headed towards Ozpin's Office to explain what truly happen that night during the dance. As we entered the elevator, I turned to Ruby and said, "Alright Ruby, Well explain what happened that night and I want you to know that there's no reason to hesitate, alright?"

Ruby nodded and replied, "Got it."

When the elevator doors opened, we heard Ironwood, "They were here... Ozpin, they were here!"

Glynda responded, "We are very much aware of that. Thank you, James."

' _Ah shit, the general's first name is my dad's..._ ' I thought to myself as we walked in and stood there.

"Fantastic, you're aware. Now are we going to do something about it or should we just stay the course and continued to ignore what's right in front of us?" the general stated.

I gave a fake cough to gain their attention, which it worked. I replied, "Sorry it took so long, because SOMEONE..." as I softly glared at Ruby and continued, "had to press all of the buttons on the elevator on the way up here."

Ruby grinned nervously and replied, "Heh, sorry."

Ozpin replies back, "Thank you two for coming. How are you two feeling?"

Ruby replied, "Okay, I guess. I'd feel better if my bad-guy catching record wasn't zero of three." as she gave a slight chuckle.

I replied, "Fine, sir. Still kinda upset that the intruder got away, though."

There was silence in the office and Ruby said meakly, "Okay, so that's the tone we're going for, got it..."

Then Ironwood stepped up to us and replies, "Ruby, Edward, I feel it's appropriate to let both of you know that I think what you both did last night is exactly what being a huntress and huntsman is all about. You both recognized a threat, took action, and you both did the very best you could."

Both me and Ruby replied, "Thank you, sir."

Then Ozpin cut in, "Now, the general here has already informed us of the events that transpired, last night. But now that both of you rested, we were wondering if any of you had anything to add."

Then Glynda asked, "Was anyone else with her? Did she look familiar to you at all?"

I answered, "No, but I believed it could be the same person that was on that VTOL, that night before we arrived at Beacon. I know this because she had the same sort of ability to use fire and what-not."

Then Ruby added, "She was also wearing a mask, and she never said anything to us, but I know she fought with glass, but that wasn't her Semblance, though. It was fire, like Edward said. Her clothing also lit up whenever she attacked."

Glynda concludes, "Save for the glass, it does sound like the woman I fought the night we met Ruby and Edward."

Then Ironwood cuts in, "Embedding Dust into clothing is an age-old technique. It could have been anyone."

Then Ruby said, "Wait, you think this girl is connected to Torchwick and the White Fang?"

"It's possible." Ozpin said.

I said, "I think she's the one pulling the strings. It makes sense why Torchwick and the White Fang stole so much Dust, since she does embed it into her clothing. But still don't know why so much, but it may explain the purpose of it."

Ironwood nods and replies, "Edward may be right. It shows who's really pulling the strings, the purpose on why stealing Dust, and as well as the connections."

Ozpin added, "Yet, we still lack the required solid evidence to actually link the two together."

Then Ruby said, "Actually, I-I think I remember her saying something about a hideout or something..."

I turned to her and asked, "Wait, you heard her say that?"

Ruby nodded and replied, "Yes, after the arrows exploded, but it was more around like a whisper or something."

I then asked, "Where?"

"In the Southeast. Just outside the kingdom." She replied.

Ozpin grinned and commented, "Interesting."

But then Glynda said, "I thought you said that the intruder never-"

But Ozpin interrupted, "Thank you both for your cooperation. Why don't you both go and spend some time with your team? You both have a big day ahead of you."

Ruby replied as we walked away, "Anytime."

I replied, "Yes, professor." as we walked away.

But then Ozpin added, "Also, please try and be discreet about this matter."

We both replied, "Yes, sir."

After I followed Ruby to her dorm, she opened the door and immediately, Yang, Weiss, and Blake ran up to us in an instant.

We jumped back a little in reaction and I replied, "Jesus! Don't do that!"

Yang ignored and asked, "So, what happened?!"

Ruby answered, "Uh, well umm, ehehe, uh..."

XXXXXX

' _3rd POV, Ozpin's Office..._ '

"Well, there you have it. We'll send as many troops as we can to the Southeast. Find out exactly what's going on and eradicate any forces that stand in our way." Ironwood said.

Glynda shook her head and replied, "Why must your answer to everything involve a triumphant display of military bravado? You treat every situation like it's a contest of measuring d-"

Ozpin interrupts, "Glynda!"

Ozpin turned towards them as Glynda replies, "Well, he does."

Ozpin said, "She's right. As much as I too love to end this situation once and for all, we must remember that this may go beyond Vale, beyond Beacon, and if this truly is part of some master plan for which we know not the final move, we must not be so bold nor can we risk the spread of panic."

Ironwood replied grimly, "I have served you faithfully for years, but if you mean to tell me that your plan is to really hold the defenses and wait-"

Ozpin instantly stood up and interrupted, "It is not! You're a general, James. So tell me, when you prepare to go to war, which do you send in first? The flag-bearer, or the scouts?"

XXXXXX

' _Edward's POV..._ '

I was in RWBY's dorm as we explained everything what happened...

"That was a risky move." Weiss said.

I replied, "Risky, but necessary, Weiss."

Blake replied, "Well, I thought both of you handled it well."

Ruby replied, "I hope so."

Yang commented, "I'm sure everything will be alright, guys."

But then Yang began, "Oh! I know what will cheer you up, Ruby."

I replied, "Eh?"

Ruby asked, "What is it?"

"I don't know yet. Dad sent it to us. I thought we could open it together." Yang replied as she pulled out a small tube.

Ruby screamed, "Ooh! Something from home!"

Then Ruby sprinted behind Yang and tried to grab the tube, then something fell out of it. It began to rustle around and it popped into shape.

It was... IT WAS... a small dog?

It barked at us and both Yang and Ruby cheered while me, Weiss, and Blake jumped in fear.

Ruby cheered, "Zweeeiii!"

"What the hell!? How-how can he-THIS DEFIES EVERY LOGIC IN EXISTANCE! HE SHOULDN'T BE ABLE TO FIT IN THERE!" I replied.

Blake replied to me, "You're telling me!"

Then Blake turned to Ruby and Yang, "Your dad sent a dog?!"

Weiss added, "In the mail?!"

Ruby giggles and Yang replies, "Oh, he does stuff like this all the time."

Blake then asked, while on top of Ruby's bed, "Your father or your dog?"

I yelled out, "THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"

Then Yang stated, "Well, I ripped someone's skull out and beat him with it."

"That's physically impossible!" I yelled out.

"That's what the guy kept saying." Yang replied.

I responded with a long sigh as I heard Weiss, "Are you telling me that this mangy... drooling... mutt, is going to wive with us forevah?"

Then she fell for Zwei's cuteness and repeated, "Oh, yes he is, yes he is!"

Weiss continued, "Oh, isn't he adorable!"

Blake replied, "Please keep it away from my belongings."

I looked at Blake and replied, "Why? Do you something against-oh, nevermind. You're a cat Faunus, I forgot."

Then Glynda announced over the comm, "Will first-year students report to the amphitheater."

Weiss said as Ruby let Zwei down, "Well, we can't exactly leave him here while we're gone for a week."

As Zwei went up to Blake, who was still freaking out, Yang said, "Look, there's a letter."

She then began to read the letter, "Dear girls, I've got to leave the island for a few days, so I'm sending Zwei to you to take care of. Enclosed is all the food you should need. Love you both, Taiyang."

Then she dumped out a shit-load of canned dog food, but Zwei was unfortunate to be under it.

"I still think that's impossible..." I replied.

Then Weiss asked, "What is he supposed to do with that?"

Yang shook the tube and a can opener dropped out.

"Well, that settles it. Come on girls, Zwei will be here when we get back." Yang said as we began to leave.

"Oh, I'll miss you so much, we're going to be best friends, I can't wait to see you again." Weiss said as she followed behind.

I patted Zwei's head and said, "See ya, Zwei." and left RWBY's dorm.

XXXXXX

' _In the Amphitheater..._ '

All the first year students gathered up and Glynda stepped up, "Professor Ozpin would like to share a few words before we begin."

The Glynda left as Ozpin began, "Today, we stand together, united. Mistrel, Atlas, Vacuo, and Vale. The four kingdoms of Remnant. On this day, nearly eighty years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell or who traded with whom, but about the very idea of individualism itself. We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self-expression.

As you all are well aware, that was something many could not stand for. As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself. Color. It was their way to demonstrate that not only that they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither would the generations to come. And it was a trend that is held to this very day. We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity. Through diversity. As I have said, today we stand together, united, but this bond cannot exist without effort, which is why today, while the rest of the world celebrates peace, Huntsmen and Huntresses will work to uphold it. As first-year students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional Huntsman or Huntress, on a mission. some of you will be taken out of the kingdom for several days, others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. But no matter which you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best."

Ozpin ended and walks away as everyone applauded.

I commented, "A war about art, that's new to me. Usually, where I'm from, it's different, but all of us have reasons to."

Then Ruby said, "This is perfect. All we have to do is shadow a Huntsman working in the Southeast."

The Yang gets pumped, "Yeah! We'll follow them around by day and give them the slip at night."

Then Weiss suggested, "Let's check ' _Search and Destroy._ '"

"Good idea, Weiss." I responded.

As we approached the screen, Ruby pointed out, "Here we go. Quadrant five needs Grimm cleared out."

Blake said, "Well, it's in the Southeast."

"Sounds perfect." Yang said.

Then Ruby entered their team name and Weiss asks me, "So, are you going to come with us?"

"Yep." I answered.

But when Ruby hit enter, it denied the request. Then Weiss commented, "Wonderfull."

Blake asked, "Any other ideas?"

Ruby suggested, "We mail ourselves there."

I deadpanned, "No."

The Ozpin came up and said, "Well, that's one option. Unfortunately, we determined that the concentration of Grimm was too extreme for first year students. It seems that particular region is rather popular. In fact, I have the sneaking position that the five of you will make your way there no matter which job you choose."

Ruby asked hesitantly, "Whatever makes you say that?"

"I'm still curious at to how you all found yourselves at the docks, last semester. I'm interested to know how you really learned about a "hideout" in the Southest. And I certainly wonder why witness reported seeing robots and rose petals in a dance club some time ago." Ozpin inquired.

Ruby began to stutter, "Uhhmm... Uh-well."

"I doubt I'll ever find the exact answers I'm looking for. So, how about this. Instead of waiting for you all to break the rules, why don't we just bend them?" Ozpin suggested.

Then he typed on his tablet and added us to the job.

Ruby replied, "We won't let you down. Thank you, professor."

"Do not thank me for this. Teamwork and persistence have carried you far, but you must understand, the things that await you beyond the protection of the kingdom will not care. Stay close to your Huntsman at all times and do exactly as he says. He will be leading you on this mission and he can have you sent back to Beacon, if he finds your skills to be unsatisfactory." Ozpin said and left, but added, "Good luck."

I then asked, "And WHO is this Huntsman we need to find?"

XXXXXX

' _At the landing platform..._ '

"Why, hello girls! Edward! Who's ready to fight for their lives?"

It was Professor Oobleck, and all of us stood there in shock. I then thought, ' _Shit._ '

To be Continued...


	26. Chapter 24: Old Friend

**Chapter 24: Old Friend**

 _Location: Beacon Academy, Vale Year: Unknown_

We stood there, in shock, as we saw that Professor Oobleck was the Huntsman that we had to go with.

Weiss said in shock, "Professor Oobleck?"

"Yes, I'm afraid those bags won't be necessary, girls. Like Edward here, for example." Oobleck stated.

"Heh, thanks to the Pipboy, might I add." I grinned.

"Seeing as you've opted to shadow a Huntsman on what is now essentially a reconnaissance mission. I can assure you we will not be establishing a single base of operations, rather we will traversing several miles of hazardous wasteland, and making camp in any inhabitable locations we may stumble upon. I've packed all our essentials myself provided in the air course and readied the airship. And! It's Dr. Oobleck. I didn't earn a PhD for fun, thank you very much." Oobleck stated.

"Uhh..." Weiss replied as she was confused.

Then Oobleck said, "Come now children, according to my schedule, we are already 3 minutes behind schedule." and then zoomed to the VTOL.

I gave a long sigh before I said to team RWBY, "Well, I guess you will learn on what it's like to travel like I did."

Ruby tried to sound enthusiastic, "Well, alright then looks like we're going to save the world with Dr. Oobleck... okay, yeah, when you say it out loud, it sounds worse."

"Save the world?!" Nora's voice came out of nowhere.

We turned to Team JNPR as Nora continued, "You're going on world-saving missions without us?! I'm hurt and sad! Maybe a little hungry? That last one's not my fault, though, Ren!"

Ren crossed his arms in response and Jaune asks, "Sounds exciting, where are ya going?"

Ruby replied, "Oh, just outside the kingdom."

Nora replied, "Hey! So are we."

Pyrrha added, "Ren and Nora wanted to shadow a sheriff of a nearby village."

Ren said, "We set out tomorrow."

Then Neptune and sun cut in, "Then you can party with us tonight. We're shadowing a crime specialist. All inner-city detective stuff. We get junior badges."

I replied, "Yeah, good for you, guys, but we're going with Dr. Oobleck, unfortunately, and we're heading out now to kill a shit-load of Grimm in the city ruins, southeast of here."

Then from the distance, Oobleck shouted, "Four minutes, ladies and gentleman!"

Then the awkward silence came, and Ruby finally spoke, "Well, uh, wish us luck."

Then we headed towards the VTOL and boarded. As we flew off, Yang asked me, "Have you ever rode anything like this before, Eddie?"

I answered, "A few times, yeah. Back in the Wasteland, we had these VTOLs known as Vertibirds. They're like this thing, except it had propellers instead of jets."

Then Yang turned to Oobleck and said, "I guess I just never saw you as much of a fighter."

"I admit, I fancy myself more of an intellectual, but I can assure you, as a Huntsman, I've had my fair share of tussels." Oobleck answered.

Ruby asked, "Like the mushroom?"

Blake replied, "Those are truffles."

Then Ruby asked, "Like the sprout?"

Yang replied, "Those are brussels"

The Oobleck continued, "Besides, given my expertise in the field of history, as well as my dabblings in the art of archaeological surveys, our dear headmaster saw it fit to assign me to this particular assignment."

Weiss asked, "What does history have to do with this?"

I answered, "Everything, Weiss. History is always involved, from certain events to sites like the city ruins. It is written so that we won't repeat the same thing again. Like life itself, for example. If you do something and goes wrong, then life teaches you that you shouldn't do it again and/or do it differently. History's very important, Weiss. It tells us our purpose is by the ones from before, giving us the knowledge that we have today."

Oobleck followed, "Indeed, Mr. Vaughn! It is the backbone of our very society. And the liver! And the kidneys if I were to wager."

Then Weiss asked, "And that means...?"

Oobleck answered, "The southeast quadrant outside of Vale is home to wild forests and deep caves, but, it is also the location to one of the kingdoms' greatest failures."

Ruby replied, "Mountain Glenn."

Yang followed, "That's right, it was an expansion of Vale, but in the end, it was overrun by Grimm and fenced off from the rest of the city."

Oobleck replied, "Correct! And now it stands abandoned, as a dark reminder."

Blake added, "And a likely place for a hideout."

I also added, "Like for the White Fang, for example."

Oobleck answered, "Precisely."

We then arrived at the city ruins and the VTOL began to hover as it lowers to the ground. We dropped down from it and the VTOL flew off. I had my .45 Auto Submachine Gun out while the rest had their weapons out, aside from Oobleck.

We looked around and saw that the city was in ruins, and I commented, "Huh, reminds me back home."

Then Oobleck said, "Ladies and gentleman, you still may be students, but as of this moment, your first mission as a Huntress and Huntsman has begun. From this point forward, you need to do exactly as I say. Do you understand?"

We all nodded, but then we heard music playing, which is familiar to me.

Yang asks out, "Was that music?"

I answered, "Yeah, and I think I know who it could be."

Weiss asks, "Who?"

Then I began to run towards the direction of the noise, followed by laser shots. Ruby shouted out to me, "Edward, Wait?!"

As I turned around the corner, I saw a couple piles of ash and a familiar robot. An Enclave Eyebot, but very familiar. As team RWBY caught up, they noticed this and Yang asked me, "Should I kill it?"

I immediately answered, "No!"

The Eyebot noticed us and flew towards us, then it played a part of a song, " ** _Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away._** "

Then it said, " _ **RALPHIE! FLY FAR! FLY FAST!**_ " and began to beep at us.

"Wait, Ralphie!? Is that you?!" I asked.

I began to beep happily and nudges at me.

Ruby shouted, "Ralphie?! You mean the Eyebot you're friends with, but died?!"

"The same!" I answered.

Blake asked, "Ralphie?"

I answered, "Yeah, he used to travel with me for a short while when I traveled throughout the Divide. I thought he was dead since he blew up, but he's here."

Then Weiss asks, "So, how did it get here?"

"Not it, He, Weiss. As to how he got here, I have no clue, but I don't care." I answered.

Again, Ralphie beep happily and Ruby went, "Awe, he's so cute!"

I chuckled and noticed Ralphie happily nudging towards Ruby. I said, "It looks like he likes you, Rubes."

Then Oobleck caught up and asked, "What's gotten into-"

He stopped as he saw Ralphie. I began, "This here is Ralphie, Doc. He's a close friend of mine."

Then Oobleck replied, "Outstanding! Now we have robot to watch over as we camp out and to alert us."

Then Oobleck said, "Ruby! I thought I told you to leave all your bags at school."

But Ruby intercepted, "But, uh you hadn't told us to listen to you yet... so I didn't."

Ralphie beeped questionably at Ruby's response and I face-palmed myself.

Then Oobleck replies, "She's not wrong. Very well, Ruby. Leave your bag here. we can pick it up upon our return."

Ruby began to stutter, "But I-whaa-"

Then Oobleck asks, "Young lady, what in the world could you possibly have in that bag that could be so important for you to bring it-"

But then Oobleck paused as Zwei popped out of the bag. Ralphie beeped in confusion as I asked Ruby, "You brought Zwei?!"

As we all stood there in silence, Ruby whispers to Zwei, "Get back in the bag."

Oobleck began, "We're here to investigate an abandoned urban jungle, teeming with death and hostility, and you brought, a dog?"

Ralphie beeped in fear as I thought to myself, ' _Oh shit._ '

Ruby began, "I-uhh...!"

Then Oobleck yelled out, "Genius!"

Then Oobleck grabbed Zwei and began, "Canines are historically known for their perceptive nose and heightened sense of sound."

Ruby said, "I'm a genius."

Ralphie beeped in disapproval as I muttered, "Oh, Ruby."

Then Blake asked out, "So, what are your orders, doctor?"

"Ah! Yes! Straight to the chase, I like it!" Oobleck responded as he dropped Zwei.

Oobleck continued, "As you have been informed, the Southeast area has been marked as a recent hotspot for Grimm activity."

Ralphie beeped questionably towards me, and I replied, "It was those things you killed earlier, Ralph."

Ralphie beeped as he understood me.

"Now, there are several possible explanations for this behavior. One of which being, Grimm." Oobleck concluded.

"Uhh, what?" Ruby asked.

"Grimm, a creature of Grimm, approximately 100 yards from us this very moment." Oobleck stated.

We immediately turned, aiming my gun asking, "Wait, where?!"

We just saw one lone Beowolf crossing by. All of us had our weapons drawn, but Oobleck said to us, "Stop."

Blake replied, "Huh?"

"There are a number of reasons why Grimm would congregate in this particular area. Those most likely of which would be their attraction to negativity. Sadness, envy, loneliness, hatred, all qualities that are likely held by our hidden group harboring ill intent." Oobleck stated.

Then I concluded, "Then that means that the White Fang must be around here."

Then Ruby asks, "So, what now?"

"We wait, we track, if the specimen leads us to its pack, that pack may subsequently lead us to our prey."

Yang asks, "How long do we wait?"

"It's uncertain. Hours, days, weeks, why lone Grimm have been known to stand isolated from the pack for months-and there's the whole pack." Oobleck said.

"Huh?" I responded as I looked back at the lone Grimm, whose now with its pack.

Weiss asked out loud, "What?"

I turned to her and said, "Weiss, be quiet."

"And now they've seen us." Oobleck added.

"What?!" Weiss asked again, but louder.

Oobleck repeated, but louder, "And now they've seen us!"

Then Ruby said, "I take it tracking is out of the question."

Oobleck replied, "An accurate assumption, yes."

Then the pack charged at us, and I yelled, "Oh, son of a gun!"

Yang asked out, "What's the plan, then?"

I answered out, "Open fire, that's what!"

I immediately opened fire, along with team RWBY and Ralphie at my side.

After half an hour later, we finished off the last of the pack.

Ruby stated, "Heh, piece of cake."

"Do not celebrate yet, for I am certain this is the first bout of many. Shall we continue?" Oobleck responded.

To be Continued...


	27. Chapter 25: Purpose

**Chapter 25: Purpose**

 _Location: Outside of Vale, within the city ruins Year: Unknown_

' _Yang's POV..._ '

"Tell me, Yang, why did you choose this line of work?" Oobleck asked.

"Huh?" I replied as I turned to Oobleck.

Then I replied, "Well, to fight monsters and sav-"

Oobleck interrupted, "No, that is what you do, I want to know why you do it. The honest reason as to why you want to be a Huntress."

I then answered, "The honest reason? I'm a thrill seeker. I wanna travel the world and get wrapped up in as many crazy adventures as I can. And if I help people along the way, then that's even better. It's a win-win, y'know?"

"I see." Oobleck replied.

' _Weiss' POV..._ '

"And you, Miss Schnee, a girl born into fame and fortune such as yourself certainly doesn't need the extra work. So, why choose this over a cushy job in Atlas?" Oobleck asked.

I answered, "It's exactly as you said, I'm a Schnee. I have a legacy of honor to uphold. Once I realized I was capable of fighting, there was no longer a question of what I would do with my life. It was my duty."

Oobleck replied, "Interesting."

' _Blake's POV..._ '

"What about you, Blake? You seem to carry yourself with a sense of purpose." Oobleck asked.

I answered, "There's too much wrong in this world to just stand by and do nothing. Inequality, corruption, someone has to stop it."

"Very well, how?" Oobleck asked.

I started to hesitate, "I... uh."

"Hmm." Oobleck replied.

' _Edward's POV..._ '

It has been hours and we non-stop killing waves of Grimm. I noticed that Oobleck asked each of the girls, aside from Ruby, questions on why they joined to become a Huntsman or Huntress.

Then Oobleck came up to me and Ralphie, and asked, "So, why did you join up to become a Huntsman, Edward? What is it that you're trying to accomplish here?"

I simply answered, "I joined up to become a Huntsman because I feel like it's my responsibility to protect the innocent. I joined up to help them, Doc."

"Oh, why do you feel like it's YOUR responsibility?" Oobleck asked me.

"Back where I'm from, there was no justice, no laws. There were only survivors. There are a few, like myself, that are vigilantes who risk their own lives to protect them, and end up dying later on. I'm not trying to prove anything, I'm only doing what I believe is the right thing to do, nothing more, nothing less. That's all." I answered.

He nodded and replied, "Very well! You have a noble goal, so keep at it then, but what about him?" as he points to Ralphie.

"He's just along for the ride, Doc. He will follow me to Hell and back." I answered, along with Ralphie beeping with agreement.

"Hmm, very well." Oobleck replied and took off.

Me and Ralphie looked at each other and I shrugged. Then I went over to Ruby, who was playing with Zwei with... is that a cooked chicken?

I asked out, "Ruby, where the hell did you get that cooked chicken from?"

Ruby thought for a moment and replied, "I... don't know, actually."

Then we noticed Dr. Oobleck standing there, and Ruby immediately put away her weapon and the cooked chicken, and replied, "Sorry! Uhh, are we ready to keep going?"

"No, I believe that will have to do for today. It's going to be dark soon." Oobleck said as he threw his bedroll.

Then Oobleck ordered Yang, Weiss, and Blake, "You three, set up camp in that building. Oh, and please do make sure that there are no more of those creatures."

Then he turned to them and continued, "Your leader, your mentor, and I are going to secure the perimeter."

Then he began to walk away, "Come on Ruby and Edward."

With that, Me and Ruby followed Dr. Oobleck, then we saw more giant-ass Grimm in the distance. These Grimm were known as Goliaths, which are elephant-like creatures.

I heard Ruby replying with a whisper, "Whoooaaa."

Then Ruby asked, "What is that? It looks awesome!

"They're Goliaths, Ruby. They're Grimm." I answered as I switched from my Thompson to my Anti-Material Rifle, and cocked it.

Ralphie beeped in awe in response.

Then Ruby pulls out her Cresent Rose and replied, "Let's kill it." as she cocks it.

Then Oobleck stated, "I'm afraid your sniper rifles will do nothing more than agitate a Grimm of that size."

Ruby asks, "But, what if it attacks us?"

Then Oobleck answeres, "Fret not, those Goliaths are not concerned with us."

Then Oobleck turned to us and continued, "You see, not every Grimm is mindless. Or rather not every Grimm is still mindless. You see, the Grimm you see before you are so powerful, so superior to the Grimm you fought, that they've undoubtedly lived hundreds of years. And in that time between killing humans, and attacking our borders, they've done one important thing, they've learned. They've learned that when they attack our borders, they're likely to die, and what we lack in strength, we make up for in will. And that killing one human, will only bring more."

I then asked oobleck, "So, why are they so close to the city?"

Ruby followed up, "Yeah, what are they doing?"

Oobleck answered, "Waiting."

Then Oobleck walks away from us and Ruby asks, "Dr. Oobleck?"

"Hmm."

"I was wondering-" Ruby began to ask but Oobleck interrupts...

"Wondering why I've been interrogating your teammates and your mentor, Edward, all day?"

"A-actually, I was wondering... why did you want to become a Huntsman?" Ruby asked.

"Touche." I replied.

Oobleck answers, "Look around and tell me what you see."

"Lots of old buildings, uhh, empty streets..." Ruby answered.

"I see lives that could've been saved. As a Huntsman, it is my job to protect the people, and although, I am capable of doing it traditional weaponry, I believe I can make a much larger impact if I do it with my mind. As a teacher, I am able to take knowledge, the most powerful weapon of all, and place it into the hands of every student that passes through my classroom. I look at this wasteland and I see lives that could've been saved. But I also see an opportunity; an opportunity to study these ruins and learn from this tragedy, and therefore, become stronger. I am a Huntsman, because there is nothing else in this world I would rather be." After he explained, he walked away.

To be Continued...


	28. Chapter 26: Purposes Revealed

**Chapter 26: Purposes Revealed**

 _Location: Southeast City Ruins, outside of Vale Year: Unknown_

"Alright then, one of us should stay up for the first shift to keep watch. Any volunteers?" Oobleck asked out.

As I raised my hand, so did Ruby. Ruby replied, "I'll do it, doctor."

I also replied, "Same here, Doc. I'm used to staying up all night, so I could."

Oobleck nodded and replied, "Great!"

Oobleck looked towards Ruby and said, "Ruby, you'll watch that side of the building, through that opening."

Ruby nodded and proceeded to the said area. Then Oobleck looked towards me and said, "And Edward, you'll be on the opposite side from Ruby."

I nodded and proceeded to the said area, then I pulled out my Anti-Material Rifle and inserted a recorded holotape, with the volume turned down so that I won't disturb anyone, and played ' _Blue Moon_ ' by Frank Sinatra.

As Ralphie and I listened to the music, we kept out a watchful eye. Ralphie began to beep in question, as if asking, " _Are we ever going to get back home?_ "

I replied, "No, Ralphie. This is our new home, at least, in the kingdom of Vale."

Then I thought of something. I pulled out my Scroll and began to type down a message to Ozpin about Ralphie and hit 'Send'. I want Ozpin to know about him so he won't get a surprise from us and... I don't know, get a heart attack. Probably not, but it's better safe than sorry. Then I send a message to team JNPR about him as well.

After that, we continued to watch out for any trouble while listening to the music.

XXXXXX

' _Ozpin's POV..._ '

As I worked throughout part of the night, I received a message from Edward.

' _Strange..._ ' I thought to myself and then read the message...

It explained that Edward was reunited with an old friend of his that supposedly died in his world, and is named Ralphie. I then looked at a photo taken from him and showed that Ralphie was a robot of sort. A metal, floating sphere that he calls an Eyebot. Though Edward did mentioned that he has quite a personality.

I smiled at this and thought, ' _We live in strange times, but they are always rememberable._ '

XXXXXX

' _Team JNPR's POV..._ '

Jaune woke up from his Scroll buzzing(?) as it received a message.

Jaune took a look and saw that it was from Edward. As he read further, this made him want to tell the others.

"Hey, guys! Wake up!" Jaune said to the rest of his team.

As everyone slowly woke up, Pyrrha asked, "What's going on, Jaune?"

"I just got a message from Edward, saying that he just met up with his old friend from the Wasteland, named Ralphie!" Jaune answered.

Then Nora asked, "Ooh, really!? Did he sent a picture, too?"

Jaune brought up a picture of Edward and Ralphie, and showed it to them.

Then Ren commented, "It's... a robot?"

The Nora said, "Awww! He's so cute!"

Pyrrha looked at Ralphie in astonishment, then smiled afterward and commented, "I can't wait to meet him."

Jaune followed up, "Me, too!"

XXXXXXX

' _3rd POV..._ '

"Blake, are you awake?" Yang asked.

"Yeah." Blake answered.

"Why do you think he asked us about being a Huntress? Like... what was he trying to say?" Yang asked.

"Maybe he was just curious." Blake answered.

"Ya think?" Yang asked.

"No." Blake answered.

The Yang asked, "Weiss? Are you awake?"

"Of course, I'm awake! You two are talking. And I think he..." Weiss replied, but then hesitated.

Then she began, "When I said I wanted to honor my family's name, I meant it. But... it's not what you think. I'm not stupid. I'm fully aware of what my father has done with the Schnee Dust Company. Since he took control, our business has operated in a... moral grey area."

Blake commented, "That's putting it lightly."

Then Weiss began, "Which is why I feel the need to make things right! If I had taken a job in Atlas, it wouldn't have change anything. My father was not that start of our name, and I refuse to let him be the end of it."

Then Blake began, "All my life, I fought for what I thought was right. I had a partner... named Adam. More of a mentor, actually. He always assured me that what we were doing would make the world a better place. But of course, his idea of a perfect future turned out to be... not perfect for everyone. I joined the Academy because I knew Huntsmen and Huntresses were regarded as the most noble warriors in the world. Always fighting for good. But I never really thought past that. When I leave the Academy... what will I-? How can I undo so many years of hate?"

Yang answered, "I'm sure you'll figure it out. You're not one to back down from a challenge, Blake."

Blake responded, "But I am! I do it all the time! When you learned I was a Faunus, I didn't know what to do, so I ran. When I realized my oldest partner had become a monster, I ran! Even my... Semblance. I was born with the ability to leave behind a shadow of myself; an empty copy that takes the hit while I run away."

The Yang began, "At least you two have something that drives you. I've just kinda always gone with the flow, you know? And that's fine, I mean, that's who I am. But how long can I really do that for? I wanna be a Huntress... not really because I wanna be a hero. But because I want the adventure. I want a life where I won't know what tomorrow will bring. and that'll be a good thing. Being a Huntress just happens to line up with that. I'm not like Ruby nor Edward. Ruby's always wanted to be a Huntress. It's like she said. Ever since she was a kid, she dreamt about being the heroes in the books. helping people and saving the day, and never asking for anything else in return. Even when she couldn't fight, she knew that's what she wanted to do. That's why she trained so hard to get where she is today."

Then Weiss replied, "Well, she's still just a kid."

Then Blake said, "She's only two years younger. We're all kids."

Then they heard Edward, "We all have our reasons to do the things we did and what we want to do."

They all looked at Edward, who was sitting high above with Ralphie. He continued, "An old friend, named Ulysses, once told me, is that war... war never changes. But men do, through the roads we walk. Always look forward, never back, but always remember the reasons why we fight and the actions we did. Whether right or wrong, your actions or someone else's brought you here today."

He paused for a moment, then sighed and replied, "Ever since I left Vault 101, I didn't know what to do, except to search for my father. But, along the way, after all the events that unfolded between then and finding my dad... I knew what I must do and become."

Blake replied, "To become a vigilante."

Edward nodded and said, "Yes. Never for rewards or anything, only just because it's the right thing to do. I have experience near-death moments a thousand times when I helped and protected the ones who are defenseless. But... that never stopped me. I knew it was going to get me killed one day, so why not do something that gives hope to everyone that there is someone who's willing to help the innocent."

Then Weiss said, "Your parents must be proud of you."

Edward nodded once more and replied, "I know they are. Sooner or later though, I will see them again, one day, but for now, we must enjoy the moments we all have together, as friends." Then he got up a left with Ralphie.

Then Yang began, "Well, it looks like we're not kids anymore. I mean, look where we are! In the middle of a war zone and armed to the teeth?"

Blake agreed, "It's the life we chose."

Weiss said, "It's a job. We all have this romanticized vision of being a Huntress in our heads. But, at the end of the day... it's a job to protect the people. And whatever we want will have to come second."

As Weiss said this, unknown to them, Oobleck grinned at the statement.

XXXXXX

' _Ruby's POV..._ '

"Huh?" I asked tiredly.

I slowly woke up and saw Zwei staring at something.

I then replied, "Zwei, it's late. Go back to bed."

I yawned and then Zwei took off.

"Zwei? Zwei!" I responded.

As Zwei ran off, I got up and went after him.

I then went searching for him, "Zwei? Zwei, where are you? Zwei!"

Then she found Zwei, who was... you get the point.

"Zwei, this is a wasteland. You literally could've done that anywhere." I said, earning a bark from Zwei.

But then, I heard someone, "What was that?"

I immediately picked up Zwei and hid behind a building.

Then another voice asked the first, "What was what?"

As I peeked around the corner, I saw two White Fang members, chatting.

"I thought I heard a Beowolf or... something."

"Let's just finish our patrol and get back to base. This place gives me the creeps."

As they left, I started to follow them, with Zwei following me.

Afterward, I held up Zwei around the corner and said, "Did they go in yet? One bark means _'yes'_."

After a few moments, a pair of doors closed and Zwei barked once.

I let down Zwei and said, "Oh, this is it! This is it!"

Then I pulled out my Scroll and tried to call my teammates and mentor, but then it said ' _Low Signal_ '.

"Oh man! Uh... Come on, we gotta get the others!" I said to Zwei and started our way back.

But then, the ground beneath me started to collapse in.

"Huh?!"

Then I fell in, screaming, with Zwei still safe on the side of the hole, along with my weapon.

XXXXXX

' _Edward's POV..._ '

I jerked up from my sleep from a girl screaming from nearby.

Ralphie beeps in concern and I replied, "Someone's in trouble."

Then we saw Yang coming up to us and asked, "Hey, have you seen Ruby?!"

My eyes widened as I realized that the girl screaming must have been Ruby's.

"Oh shit!" I replied as I immediately got up and readied myself.

Then Oobleck came in and said, "Grab your weapons. Your leader may be in trouble."

After a few moments, searching for Ruby, we came upon Ruby's scythe.

Yang responded, "It's Ruby's scythe!"

Blake replied, "Oh no..."

We also saw a hole in the ground. Immediately, I grabbed Ruby's scythe, and jumped into the hole in the ground, along with Ralphie. I heard the others shouting to me, but I ignored. My main focus was to make sure that Ruby's safe.

I thought to myself, ' _Hang in there, Rubes! I'm coming!_ '

To be Continued...


	29. Chapter 27: The Crazy Train

**Chapter 27: The Crazy Train**

 _Location: Underground City Ruins, Southeast of Vale Year: Unknown_

As Ralphie and I landed in an underground city, we immediately went to search for Ruby. I draw out my Lincoln's Repeater and holstered it, just in case of an emergency. As we turned around the corner, we saw two White Fang members keeping watch.

' _Ah, shit. The White Fang ARE here._ ' I thought to myself, then I quietly walked up behind them. Though they do have increase hearing, neither of them noticed me. I stopped as I heard them talking...

"Hey, John?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever wonder why we're here?"

"It's one of life's great mysteries, isn't it? Why are we here? I mean, are we the product of some... cosmic coincidence? Or is there really a god, watching everything, you know, with a plan for us and stuff. I don't know man, but it keeps me up at night."

Awkward silence came before them as I thought to myself, ' _What? I don't think that's what he meant._ '

Then the guy responded, "What? I mean why are we in here, underground?

Then John replied, "Oh, uhhhhh, yeah..."

' _Okay, that's it._ ' I finally thought as I knocked both of them out by bashing both their heads together.

Then I quietly said, "Come on, Ralphie."

Ralphie beeped quietly as he followed me.

As we reached the ground floor, after knocking out some guards, we finally found Ruby, but being held captive by Torchwick. As I saw Ruby trying to escape, Torchwick started to fire at her. I immediately grabbed her out of the way when she neared.

Ruby thought I was one of them, so she tried to kick me. I said to her, "Ruby! It's me!"

Ruby stopped and glanced at me, then sighed in relief. I then handed her scythe back and I pulled out my gun. Then we saw that the Blake, Yang, and Weiss, along with Oobleck and Zwei, running up to us.

"Oh, Ruby! You're alright!" Yang said as she hugged Ruby.

Of course, Ruby said, as she can hardly breathe, "Please, stop..."

I then cocked my gun, then said to them, "Let's show them what for, shall we?"

All of them nodded and we heard Torchwick shouting, "Come out, Red! No one is going to save you, this time."

I jumped around the corner and yelled, "Surprise, bitch!" as I fired a round at him.

"Oh shit!" Torchwick shouted as he ran off. Then I heard him yelled out to the White Fang, "Get this train started, NOW!"

Then Ruby said, "We have to stop him! Torchwick's got all sorts of weapons and robots down there.

Blake commented, "What!?"

"Androids, mechs- they're all loaded up on the train cars." Ruby said.

Then Oobleck responded, "Ah, that's ridiculous! These tunnels are sealed. The tracks lead to a dead end."

Then Torchwick yelled into the mics, "Get to your places, we are leaving now!"

Then the train started to leave, and then I stated, "Oh, really? I think they're going anyway!"

Then Ruby said, "We need backup!"

I yelled, "We ARE the backup, Rubes! We're on our own this time!"

Then Weiss asked, "So, what do we do?"

Oobleck replied, "I believe we only have one option."

Then Ruby followed up, "We're stopping that train!"

We then ran towards the train and boarded it. Oobleck knocked out one of the White Fang members, then we climbed on top of one of the train cars.

I then commented, "Well, we're on the crazy train, now what?"

Then Oobleck stated, "We must hurry to the front of this train!"

Then Weiss said, "Uuh, Professor?"

Oobleck corrected, "Doctor."

Then Weiss asked, while pointing at a device, "What's that?"

Then Oobleck answered, "That, my dear, appears to be a bomb."

Then Ruby shouted as she pointed forwards, "We've got baddies!"

I then switched to my power armor and switch from my Lincoln's Repeater to my ' _Q-35 Modulator_ ' and began firing at them, making them scatter.

Then we heard Oobleck stating, "Well, I didn't expect them to go-"

But then Oobleck was interrupted by the sound of the bomb being armed, then Oobleck finished, "-easy on us."

I then yelled out, "Lucky for you guys, I can easily disarm it."

Then Weiss asked, "What?! You can disarm them?!"

"Yeah, I disarmed an Atomic Bomb once. It's not that hard, at least for me, though." I answered.

Then Oobleck stated, "There's no time! We have to move up!"

Then he yelled, "Blake! Detach the caboose! It will kill us all!"

"On it!" Blake replied.

As we jumped onto the next car, Blake jumped down to cut off from the caboose, but it detached itself.

Then Blake yelled out to us, "It decoupled itself!"

"What!?" Oobleck asked.

"I guess he really doesn't want us on his train." Yang stated.

I then joked, "Well, I bet it's because we forgot to pay for our train tickets!"

Then Yang giggled and commented, "Okay, that's a good one, Eddie!"

Then the train car exploded, making the ceiling collapse on itself. Oobleck commented, "Oh, that's not good."

Then Ruby shouted, "Uh, neither is this!"

It showed that there was, indeed, another bomb on the train car.

"Oh, come on! What's this guy's problem!?" I shouted out.

Then Oobleck ran forward and checked all the others, then yelled out to us, "They ALL have bombs!"

Then the next bomb armed itself and we immediately ran forward. Then Yang stated, "This doesn't make sense!"

Then we saw that the creatures of Grimm were following us, coming in through the holes, and then I realized...

"Oh shit! He's making entryways for the Grimm! He's planning to have the Grimm to invade Vale!"

Oobleck followed up, "He's right! It appears that it's his plan. Which means that we have to stop this train!"

Then we noticed that more members of the White Fang coming towards us. I overheard one of them, yelling, "Get the humans!"

We then armed ourselves for a fight... on a bomb train... FUCK IT!

After we fought, Oobleck then stated towards Yang, Blake, and Weiss, "You three, go below and try and stop those bombs!"

Then Ruby asked, "What about us?"

Then Oobleck answered, "We're going to stop this train."

Ruby deadpanned, "Yeah, we know. I said that earlier."

Then we ran forward and continued to the front of the train, then noticed more Atlesian Paladins coming our way. I yelled out, "Let me handle this!"

Then, all of the sudden, Zwei jumped up and Oobleck battered up and send Zwei, who's on fire, towards the Paladin, destoying it as it fell off the train. Then another Paladin came up and Oobleck beat the shit out of it. I simply stated, "Uh, nevermind."

I then turned to Ruby and stated, "Your Zwei is a super dog."

Then I groaned as Ralphie beeped in confusion.

After a few minutes of fighting, I decided to check up on the rest and told Ruby, "I'm going to check up on the others."

Ruby nodded and stated, "Alright."

I, along with Ralphie, then went back to one of the carts, switched to my Desert Ranger Combat Armor, and went in. Then I saw Neo about to stab Yang, who was unconscience, and immediately pulled out ' _Lucky_ ' and fired a round to knock Neo's sword out of her hand, catching her off-guard.

I then stated, "You may be cute, but you are a cocky bitch!"

But then, a red portal opened up and a woman wearing a mask, similar to the ones like the White Fang, but different, somewhat spikey, long, black hair, and weilding a red, katana-like blade.

I then noticed that Neo had fear in her face and teleported out. Leaving me, Ralphie, Yang, and the mysterious woman.

I asked out, "Who are you?"

She didn't answered, as she teleported out, not without Yang waking up to see her leaving.

As the mysterious woman disappeared, Yang looked at me and asked, "Who was she, Eddie?"

"I... don't know, Yang. But something tells me that we might, later on." I answered.

Yang nodded and we proceeded towards the front of the train, came up to the top, and met up with the rest.

Then Blake asked us, "Did something happen?"

Yang and I looked at each other, then I looked back and concluded, "We'll tell you later, but right now, we need to stop this train, like Ruby said, and prepare for our fight."

To be Continued...


	30. Chapter 28: Firefight

**Chapter 28: Firefight**

 _Location: Kingdom of Vale Year: Unknown_

We were now above ground, surrounded by Grimm, preparing for a fight. I had switched to my power armor and to my Avenger minigun, since I knew, this is going to be hell. With a roar from a King Taijitu, all the Grimm charged at us, and the others started to fight. With me, though, I stood my ground, mowing them down along with Ralphie, shooting his laser, and turning them into ash piles.

After a few moments, we saw Nora, flying through the air with her Magnhilde and pummeling a King Taijitu in the face.

Then the rest of Team JNPR came and Pyrrha shouted, "Let's move!"

I shouted to them, "Welcome to the party, ladies and gents!" while I mowed down more Grimm.

I then saw Jaune, killing an Ursa, with a bunch of swings. But then, the most ridiculous thing happened...

"Nobody move, Junior Detectives!" Sun shouted while holding out his badge.

Then Neptune joined in, "We have badges, so you know it's official."

I sighed and shouted towards them, "Now is not the fucking time, guys! Help us out!"

But then, the Atlas military came and started to assist, dropping off androids and mech suits into battle.

All was going so well, and then team CFVY came to assist, as well as Professor Port. All of them fought well, but that's when what Coco pulled out, shocked me. She pulls out a big-ass minigun, and started to mow the Grimm down.

I muttered in shock, "Jesus, remind my not to get on her bad side. I swear, all these people are scary, but I'm already used to it."

Then I saw a cluster of Grimm, then I had a great idea. I pulled out my Esther and fired. This caught everyone's attention when the mini nuke blew up. I then switched from my ' _Esther_ ' to my ' _Cleansing Flame_ ' and shouted, "Burn, baby!" then I started to roast the remaining Grimm stragglers.

After the entire fight, I switched back to my Desert Ranger Combat Armor, then I, along with Ralphie, met up with the teams RWBY, JNPR, and CFVY, along with Doctor Oobleck, Professor Port, Sun, Neptune, and Zwei. Then we noticed Glynda, who looks pissed as ever, started to reform everything back from before damage.

I started to chuckle and quoted, "Now THAT was a fight!"

Ralphie beeped in agreement, confusing some people as they looked upon him.

Then Pyrrha stated, "So, that's Ralphie, your old friend back from the Wasteland?"

I nodded and replied, "The one and only."

But then I saw that Emerald and Mercury was shoving Torchwick, but that doesn't mean I trust them. I will never trust them. But, for now, we celebrate and we rest.

XXXXXX

Later on in the day, back at Beacon Academy, we were resting on the side of a cliff.

"Well, we did it." Yang stated.

Blake repeated, "We did it."

I sighed in a way that I was tired, then commented, "I haven't been in that sort of battle, since either at Adams Air Force Base, back at the Capital and at Hoover Damn, in the Mojave. There were others like it, but goddamn, that was tough."

Ralphie beeped in agreement, then Blake commented, "Well, we're here, alive and well, right?"

I nodded and stated, "Yeah, but still, we need to catch the one who's actually is pulling the strings. I'm afraid Torchwick was a mere puppet."

Weiss asked, "Really, who's pulling the strings then?"

Ruby answered, "It's the same person who can control fire as her Semblance that we met on the same night when I met Edward for the first time. She's actually behind it all."

Then Yang stated, "Can we rest, for now? I really don't want to have to worry about it, at this moment."

"Sure." I answered.

After a moment of peaceful silence, Weiss stated, "If we don't get extra credit for that, I'm going to be seriously disappointed."

I sighed in disappointment and Yang replied, "Weiss, a two-headed snake literally crushed a bakery. I wouldn't count on it."

Then Ruby said, "Plus, I mean, we didn't solve everything. A lot of people were hurt, and we still don't know why they did this, or who that mystery girl was."

Then Weiss replied, "Well, not every story has a neat and tidy ending."

"Trust me, Weiss. This is just the beginning of all things. Like I always say, 'The End is where we Begin'."

To be Continued...

 _ **(Sorry if this was short, but I might add more to it later on, so... yeah. I also made a few changes in the more recent chapters, so make sure to skim through them. Besides that I hope you enjoy.)**_


	31. Chapter 29: Tournament

**Chapter 29: The Tournament**

 _Location: Beacon Academy, Vale Year: Unknown_

After the events that taken weeks ago, I was resting up, as well as fixing up Ralphie in my dorm, until I heard a knock on the door.

I asked out, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Ruby. Can I come in?"

"Sure, come on in." I answered.

Ruby enters into my dorm, looked around, and commented, "Wow, you really settled in, haven't you?"

"Yeah." I answered. I then looked at Ruby, and I knew she wanted to talk about something.

"What's wrong, Ruby?" I asked.

She was quiet at first, then asked, "Can you keep this a secret? I want you to know something and I feel like I know you wouldn't turn your back if you hear this."

I answered, "Sure, take a seat."

She sat down on one of the chairs and settled in. I then asked, "So, what's up?"

She hesitated, but then she said, "It's about Penny..."

"Oh? What about her?"

Ruby started to hesitate, "She's... well... she's not exactly human."

I raised an eyebrow, "Wait, is she a Faunus?"

"No, not that either. She's... an android." Ruby stated.

That caught me by surprise, but then I remember back at the docks, how she was destroying VTOLs left and right, and even strong enough to pull down one of them.

"I see... like a Synth from my world." I concluded.

"A Synth?" Ruby asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Made by the Institute in the Commonwealth, or what used to be Boston, Massachusettes, and were made to look exactly like a human being, even to have them actually eat, drink, sleep, and feel emotions, but still like androids, but advance. I met my fair share of them, ever since back in the Capital Wasteland. A guy named Harkness was the first Synth I met. He escaped the Institute because it's like slavery there, and I met him while he was in Rivet City, which so happens to be a beached Naval Aircraft Carrier, making it one of the safest settlements in the Capital. Someone was hunting him down and I made a false trail afterward, making them think he's dead, but in reality, he's not. His serial number is A3-21." I answered.

Ruby was shocked, 'cause I can see it in her eyes. She then said, "So... you care for them?"

I nodded and replied, "Yes, and don't worry Ruby. If you think this is going to change the way I look at Penny, well, you're wrong. She's still a friend of ours, no matter who or what she is. I mean, look at Ralphie here. He maybe a robot, but he's a good friend of mine and truly have a soul." Then Ralphie beeped in joy while bobbing up and down.

Ruby smiled and said, "Thank you. I knew I can count on you."

"Anytime, Rubes." I answered.

But then Ruby said, "I'm also here to ask you something else."

"Oh?"

"Yang and I are going back home to our island, and our father wants to meet you in person. I was wondering if you could come with us. Is that alright, Edward?" Ruby stated.

I nodded once more and stated, "Of course, Ruby. All you need to do is ask."

Then Ruby cheered, "Yes! We are actually leaving now."

"Alright, let's go." I stated.

XXXXXX

' _Hours later; at the island..._ '

We arrive at Ruby's and Yang's home island by the Bullhead, which was the VTOL I've encountered multiple times, and waiting for us is a man who is almost like Yang. There was also another man, who kinda looked like Ruby. It was confirmed that the second man was related since Ruby and Yang shouted, "It's Uncle Qrow!"

Ralphie beeped in excitement, and I knew that he was excited to meet these people.

As the Bullhead landed, Yang and Ruby immediately ran up to them and hugged them, while Ralphie and I followed behind.

Then their dad, Taiyang, noticed us and smiled, knowing who I was, but raised an eyebrow at Ralphie, not knowing who he is.

"Ah, you must be Edward, am I right?" Taiyang asked as he offered a handshake.

"Yes, sir." I answered, shaking his hand.

Then he looked towards Ralphie and asked, "And what is this?"

"This, here, is Ralphie. He's an Eyebot from the Wasteland that I used to traveled with. He will follow me to Hell and back, so I can count on him to have my back." I answered, then earned a few beeps from Ralphie in agreement while shaking up and down.

He chuckled and stated, "He does have quite a personality, doesn't he?"

"Yep, he sure does. Also, thanks for the motorcycle you got me. I was a little surprised that you even did." I stated.

"Of course. You helped out my daughters, after all, being very well protective over them, we might even consider you as part of the family." He stated.

That caught me off-guard for a moment, "Pa-part of the family? Your family?"

"Yes, of course. Ruby and Yang stated that they think of you as a big brother they never had after all you did for them, and even for their teammates and friends while at Beacon." He stated.

This really caught me off-guard, for sure. I looked towards at Ruby and Yang, talking to their uncle.

I thought, ' _They think of me as their big brother? I-I... I don't know what to say._ '

Then Taiyang asked, "Hey, are you alright?"

I answered, "Y-yeah. I was just caught off-guard from that, is all. After all these years, losing my mother when I was born and losing my dad in the later years, I-"

Taiyang put his hand on my shoulder, then said, "It's alright, I understand what you've been through, from your world. They told me everything, about what you sacrifice, what you did to help the innocent, what you lost, who you lost, everything. You're a good man, Edward, I'll give you that. It takes someone with a strong soul, a strong will, to be still sane after all the chaos and death, you have endured throughout those years. That's why I'm proud to call you family. You did everything for my daughters and for your friends."

I was speechless at this point. I didn't know what to say, except, "Thank you."

"Of course, Edward. Now, let me introduce you to Qrow." He stated.

I nodded, and Ralphie and I followed Taiyang to meet Qrow. Qrow saw us and stated, "Ah, so you're the guy who helped out Ruby at that Dust shop long ago. I heard good things about you."

I answered, "And I heard good things about you, sir. Your nieces talked highly about you."

"Heh, I bet you have. Though, nothing compared to what I heard from you, but still." Qrow stated, confidently.

XXXXXX

' _A few hours later..._ '

After talking to Ruby's and Yang's father and uncle, Ruby wanted to see her mother's grave.

We went up to a cliffside and there, stood a Tombstone, with Ruby's Rose emblem. I figured that's where Ruby got the emblem. Like mother, like daughter. As Yang, Taiyang, Zwei, and Qrow stay behind, and Ruby wanted me and Ralphie to accompany her to there.

Ruby began to pull down her hood and I took off my helmet in respect after standing there in silence, and Ruby began, "Hey mom. Sorry, I haven't come by in a while. Things have been... well, things have been pretty busy. Oh! Dad's here, too. Along with Yang, Qrow and two new friends, as well. Dad's, you know... dad. He's still teaching at Signal, but he told me he's going out on some mission soon. I think he misses adventuring with you. I miss you, too."

Then came a moment of silence, and Ralphie began beeping softly, as if he's depressed. I wouldn't blame him. This is a time a sorrow.

But then, Ruby continued, "Haven't gotten kicked out of Beacon yet! So that's cool. My mentor's with me right now, along with a cute, little friend of his. I also think being on a team with Yang helps. I keep here in line. That was a joke. She's actually a really great fighter, you can tell she's learned a lot from Dad. well, so are Weiss and Blake. Oh! They're my teammates. Together, we form Team RWBY. And yes, before you ask, that does cause a lot of confusion... anyways, uh, I made a bunch of new friends and met some... let's just say, odd teachers. I first met Edward, he's the teams' mentor who's with me right now, and he really cares about us. Oh! We've also stopped some bad guys, too! I guess it's like they say: Like mother, like daughter."

Then came a short moment of silence, then she continued, "I still wonder why Ozpin let me into the school early. But uh, I guess he'll tell me one day. You know how he is. It's funny, the more I get to know him, the more he starts sounding like Uncle Qrow."

Then a bark came from behind us and showed that Taiyang and Zwei were waiting for us.

Ruby began, "Oh! Look's like Dad's back. We gotta go! He's dropping us off at Beacon for the tournament match before he goes on his next mission! Wish us luck!"

Then Ruby put back her hood up and started to walk away. As Ralphie and I followed, I began, "I have no doubt that your mother is up there, in Heaven, smiling upon you and Yang. I have no doubt she's proud of you and Yang on what you've achieved."

Ruby smiled softly and replied, "Thanks, Edward."

XXXXXXXX

' _Next day, Near Beacon at the flying stadium..._ '

Everyone was cheering as the tournament as team RWBY fought against another team.

From the speaker, Port stated, "Hoho! It seems we have another astonishing bout ahead of us! Wouldn't you agree, Professor?"

First, Oobleck corrected, "Doctor."

Then Oobleck answered, "And yes, Peter, I think it's safe to say: This match may be one of the closest we've seen in the four-and-four round of the tournament!"

Then Port stated, "For those of you now joining us, Welcome to the Vytal Festival Tournament! Broadcasting live from the Amity Colosseum!"

Then a short moment of silence came until...

"If this is your first time watching, allow us to break down the rules." Port stated.

then Oobleck followed up, "The Tournament is divided into three distinctive rounds: Teams, Doubles, Singles. Age and school year are irrelevant. In this tournament, the only attribute being tested... is skill."

Then Port added, "Correct! The winners of this battle will elect two of their members to represent them in the Doubles round. Followed by the winners of that round choosing one member to advance once again! This round is between Team RWBY of Beacon and Team ABRN of Haven."

After a while, Team RWBY gain victory and Port announce, "Team RWBY is victorious!"

After a few moments, I met up with team RWBY and I said, "Well done! I told you that you can handle fights without me."

Then Ruby replied, "Yeah, but still. It would have been nice to have you fight along with us."

"Yeah, but we must follow the rules. Plus, I doubt it would be fair if I was with you. I mean, four against five?" I stated, along with Ralphie beeping in agreement.

Then Blake responded, "Yeah, true."

Then we were heading out to go back to the ground to the festival, until Team ABRN came up to us.

The team leader, who fought against Yang, said, "Hey, we just want to tell you that you guys were awesome back there."

Ruby replied, "Th-thanks! You fought well, too!"

"Thank you. My name is Arslan Atlan."

Then the guy with the staff said, "I'm Bolin Hori."

Then the girl with the hoverboard said, "I'm Reese."

"And I'm Nadir Shiko."

We all nodded our heads and Ruby began, "Nice to meet you all. I'm Ruby Rose."

"Weiss Schnee."

"Blake. Blake Belladonna."

"And I'm Yang Xiao Long."

Then Ruby began, "Oh! And this, here, is our team's mentor-"

I followed up, "Edward Vaughn. And this little guy..."

Then Ralphie came out from behind me as I continued, "... is Ralphie. He maybe a robot, but truly acts like a human."

Then I told Ralphie, "Say hi, Ralph."

Ralphie beeped in a greeting manner, catching team ABRN by surprise.

Then Reese stated, "Wow! He's so cool!"

Then Arslan asked, "So, wait. You guys' have a mentor?"

Ruby answered, "Well, one: He was an extra student, and two: he's the youngest veteran to be here."

Then they all nodded and Arslan replied, "Oh, I see. That makes sense. Well, see ya guys around!"

XXXXXXX

' _Outside the stadium, on the ground..._ '

"WE DID IIIIIIIIII-s anyone else starving?" Ruby first cheered, then slumped down.

Blake replied, "I may have worked up an appetite."

Then a loud growl came from Blake's stomach and I replied with a slight grin, "Oh really, then why is your stomach yelling 'FEED MEE!' if you said that you have a slight hunger?"

"Oh, shut it, Edward." Blake said to me, but jokingly.

Then Weiss said sarcastically, "Gee, if only there were somewhere on campus to get food around here. Oh wait."

We were at the fairgrounds, with a bunch of stands where to get food and such.

Then Ruby replied, not knowing Weiss being sarcastic, "It's okay, Weiss. I forget about the fairgrounds, too."

Weiss replied, "I was being facetious."

Then Ruby began, "Wh-well, if you were hunger, why didn't you say so?!"

Then Yang began, "C'mon guys! I know just the place."

As we began to follow Yang, my attention was caught by Weiss' Scroll buzzing. As she looked at it, it said ' _FATHER_ ' in the text, and Weiss refuses to answer it and continues on. Me and Ralphie were confused, but shrugged it off and continued onward.

To be Continued...

 ** _(Now guys, Edward will soon enter a fight with someone else in a non-canon round, and I am having a hard time, trying to figure out who that Edward would face. Any ideas and suggestions will help me, so... yeah. Other than that, I hope you guys will enjoy.)_**


	32. Chapter 30: Family Feud

_**(NOTE: Last chapter, when I was asking help, what I meant was that I was going to make a made-up round for Edward to fight in, against another character that is an OC or a character from Rooster Teeth that serves as a mentor, but I guess you all misunderstood it, and I now have to skip that, and try to think of something else. But, in any case, I hope you enjoy.)**_

 **Chapter 30: Family Feud**

 _Location: Beacon Academy, Vale Year: Unknown_

After hours from the two rounds with teams JNPR and SSSN, a strange ship flying overhead and Weiss was getting excited for some reason, and was Ruby, Ralphie, and I had to chase here to see what's what...

"What's going on, Weiss? Why are you so excited for?" I asked Weiss.

"She's here!" Weiss stated.

Then Ruby asked in confusion, "Uh, who?"

"My sister, Winter." Weiss answered.

Then the ship landed and, sure enough, came out Winter, along with two androids.

Then Weiss shouted, "Winter!"

Then Winter toward us as Weiss started to run to her, with us after her.

Then Weiss started, "Winter! I'm so happy to see you! Oh, your presence honors us."

After a few moments of silence, Winter began, "Beacon, it's been a long time. The air feels... different."

Then Ruby began, "I mean, it is fall, so it's probably colder..."

Then Weiss punched Ruby's back shoulder hard, making her fall to the ground in pain.

I reacted, "Jesus, Weiss!"

Then I turned toward Ruby and asked, "Ruby, are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine, just... give me a moment." Ruby replied, still aching in pain.

Then Weiss asks Winter, "So, what are you doing here?"

"Classified."

Then Weiss replied, "Oh, right. Well, how long are you staying?"

Again, Winter replied, "Classified."

I sighed and replied, "Ugh, it's the ' _Classified_ ' bullshit. I lost count on how many times the NCR have said it to me."

Then Winter looked towards me and asked, "And you are?"

I gave out a salute and replied, "Edward Vaughn. Ex-Veteran Ranger of the New California Republic and Star Paladin of the Brotherhood of Steel. Fresh out of the atomic wasteland. I knew I was getting a vibe of military purpose from you. I'm all too familiar with it."

Then Winter's expression changed from annoyed to impressed. Then she replied, "Oh, so you're the one that General Ironwood mentioned before. Said something about a possibility of you being a spy for the White Fang."

"Yeah, I heard that from Ironwood, himself. Though, now, he now has a different view of me." I replied.

"So I've heard. As well as being a great mentor, that Weiss mentioned about." Winter replied back.

"Yes, ma'am." I replied.

Then the awkward silence came, and Ruby decided to speak, "Well, this nice... I think."

But then Weiss burst out, "You're going to love it here! I know you travel a lot, like Edward has, but so much of Beacon is different from Atlas, Vale too. The government and school are completely separate! Can you believe it? I'm-"

But then Winter interrupted, "I'm more than familiar with how this kingdom handles its bureaucracy. That is not why I came."

Then Weiss replied, "Right! I'm sorry."

"Nor did I come here to watch my own blood fail so miserably in battle." Winter stated.

I thought to myself, ' _I can see now where Weiss got here... 'unique' personality from._ '

Then Winter continues, "But, it appears I have no choice in the matter."

Then Weiss spoke, "But, we won!"

Winter replied, "Only a novice would refer that as a victory. I counted at least three strikes missed."

Weiss shut her eyes tight, and I thought, ' _Okay, she's officially the bitch. Weiss, you're no longer one, though that's a long time ago._ '

Then she motioned the others, "Leave us." and the androids stepped back.

Then Winter sighed and replied to Weiss, "How have you been?"

"Oh, splendid! Thank you for asking. I'm actually in the very top ranking of our sparring class. The rest of my studies are going wonderfully, too. I'm-"

Weiss began, but then Winter slapped her on the head and replied, "Silence, you boob!"

Me and Ruby jumped back, and Ralphie beeped in surprise. I shouted out, "Jesus!"

Winter continued, "I don't recall asking about your ranking. I asked how you've been. are you eating properly? Have you taken up any hobbies? Are you making new friends?"

I then thought, ' _Huh, an older sister being motherly to her younger sister? That's new. I guess she's a bitch for a reason._ '

"Well, there's Ruby and Edward." Weiss said.

"I see. So this is the leader you wrote of? How appropriately... underwhelming." Winter replied toward Ruby.

Then Ruby replied, "Uhhh, thank you."

"Greetings, Ruby Rose. I wish to thank you for taking an interest in my sister." Winter replied.

"Oh, yes, of course! The honor is in my... court." Ruby replied.

Then Winter stated, "I have business with the court general and your headmaster, but seeing as I'm early, why don't you take me to your quarters? And yours, Ranger Vaughn."

Then Weiss asked, "Really?"

I then thought, ' _I guess she ain't all that bad._ '

"Yes, I wish to inspect them and make sure they're up to my personal standards."

Then Weiss answered, "Of course."

They were walking away from us, and Ruby stated, "We'll catch up-wait, uh... I mean we will... reconvene with you both at a later... juncture!"

I just stated, "Ruby, just stop, okay?"

As Ruby walks away, I saw Qrow running up behind them and destroyed two of the robots.

Then, Winter and Weiss turned to see him, and Qrow stated, "Hey! Yeah, I'm talking to you, Ice Queen."

Then Winter ordered the androids, "Halt!"

I ran up to Qrow and asked, "Qrow, what the fuck are you doing?!"

He turned to looked and replied, "Oh, hey Edward. What's up?"

"Don't dodge the question, Qrow! What the actual fuck?!" I replied.

He slightly chuckled and said, "It's a personal matter."

Then Weiss asked out to me as she walked towards us, "Wait! You know him, Edward?"

I replied, "Yeah, he's Ruby's and Yang's uncle."

Weiss was surprised to hear this, and Qrow continued to speak to Winter, "Saw that gaudy ship of yours in town. Guess you're here, too."

Winter replied, "I'm standing right before you."

Qrow squinted and replied, "So it would seem."

I muttered, "Ah great... he's drunk."

Weiss took noticed, but didn't reply. Winter then stated, "You realize you just destroyed Atlas military property?"

Qrow looked around, and replied sarcastically, "Ohhhh, I'm sorry. See, I mistook this for some sort of... sentient garbage."

I shouted, "Qrow, go home! You're drunk!"

I was ignored, and Winter replied, "I don't have time for your immature games, Qrow."

Then Qrow stated, "Jeez, you Atlas specialists think you're so special, don't you?"

"It's in the title." Winter replied.

"Well, you know what you really are? A buncha sellouts. Just like your boss." Qrow said.

Winter replied, "I'm not sure what you think you're implying, but I've heard enough."

Qrow shot back, "Oh, I heard too. I heard ol' Ironwood finally turned his back on Ozpin."

Then Ruby ran up and asked, "What's going on, Edward?"

"Your uncle is picking a fight with Winter, for some damn reason." I replied.

Ruby then turned towards them and replied, "Uh oh."

Then Winter hissed, "If you won't hold your tongue, then I will gladly remove it for you." as she draws out her blade.

Then Qrow replied, "Alright then... come take it." as he pulled out his weapon _**(don't know what his weapon's called.)**_

Then Winter charged at Qrow and began to clash blades, and destroying some property while doing so. At this point, I was annoyed as hell and I switched to my power armor and jumped in between them, and shouted, "ENOUGH!"

Both Winter and Qrow staggered back with expressions of surprise and shock, and I continued, "YOU TWO ARE ACTING LIKE CHILDREN! THESE STUDENTS ACT MORE MATURELY THAN YOU TWO, SO KNOCK IT OFF!"

Then Qrow stated, while still surprised, "Wow, he's pissed off. And from what I heard, he usually ends up murdering people when he's pissed, but mostly the badies."

I then glared at Qrow, which made him stepped back a little, and I hissed, "Qrow... Shut. Up."

Then he puts away his weapon and showed his hands, replying, "Alright, alright, jeez."

Then Ironwood shouted, "What is the meaning of this!?"

Then Winter sheathed her sword, saluted, and replied, "General Ironwood, sir."

Then Ironwood looked towards me, while I'm still wearing my power armor, and he asked, "What happened, Edward?"

I replied, "These two were about to fight over a heated argument, sir. I had to put a stop to it."

Then Ironwood looked towards Qrow, "Qrow, what are you doing here?"

As Ironwood talked to Qrow, I saw Penny, who was staring at me with widened eyes, and I walked over to her, and said, "Hey Penny. How are you doing?"

She hesitated, but answered, "I'm well, Edward. It's good to see you again."

Then, Penny leaned towards me and whispers, "Did Ruby tell you that I'm-"

I interrupted, "A special android, yes. She has. If you think that I'm going to hate you, well, you're wrong. I still think of you as a friend."

Penny was really surprised and replied, "Really?"

I nodded and said, "Yeah. In fact, I would like to introduce you to Ralphie."

Then Ralphie, who came out from behind me, beeped in a greeting manner, but in an excited tone, surprising Penny.

"Ralphie, here, is a good friend of mine. He maybe a robot, but he has the heart of a human being." I replied.

Then Penny waved at Ralphie and replied, "Hi Ralphie! It's nice to meet you."

Then Ralphie beeped joyfully and Penny... began to blush?

Then Penny replied, "Awe, you're too kind."

But then, Ozpin and Glynda came up and he said, "Now, now everyone. There is a sanction fight happening just around the corner at the coliseum, that I can assure you has better seats and popcorn."

Glynda began, annoyed as usual, "Break it up, everyone! We will take care of this mess."

Then Ironwood said to Winter, "Let's go."

Penny then said, "I have to go, bye!"

Then she kissed Ralphie on his facial area and waved, saying, "Bye, Ralphie."

Then Ralphie beeped in shocked, but then beeped bashfully and played a song, ' _Love Me As Though There Were No Tomorrow_ ', by Nat King Cole.

Then I realized, "Oh my..."

The Ruby came up and asked, "What happened to Ralphie?"

I answered, "I think Ralphie fell in love."

Then Ruby stared in disbelief, then asked, "With who?"

"With Penny." I simply answered.

Ruby's eyes widened, then she went, "Awww, that's so cute!"

XXXXXX

' _3rd POV..._ '

At Ozpin's office, Winter and Ironwood were waiting, and the elevator opened, revealing Glynda, Ozpin, and Qrow.

Then Winter began to ask Qrow, "What were you thinking?"

Ironwood followed up, "If you were one of my men, I would have you shot."

Qrow intercepted, "If I was one of your men, I'd shoot myself."

Then Ironwood stated, "Just be glad that Edward was there to stop the chaos, Qrow."

Then Glynda stated to Winter, "While I wouldn't condone his behavior, retaliating like you did certainly didn't help the situation."

Winter intercepted, "He was drunk!"

Glynda countered, "He's always drunk!"

Then they looked towards Qrow, who was drinking his alcohol from his canteen.

Then Ozpin began, "Agh, Qrow, why are you here?"

Then Ironwood began, "You've been out of contact for weeks, you can't just go dark like that in the field."

Qrow began, "I'm not one of your special operatives, Jimmy."

Winter corrected, "General."

"Whatever. You sent me to get intel on our enemy and I'm telling you, our enemy is here." Qrow stated.

Ironwood replied, "We know."

"Oh! Oh, you know. Well, thank goodness I'm out there, risking my life to keep you all informed!"

"Qrow!" Ironwood began.

"Communication's a two-way street, pal." The Qrow pulled out his Scroll and continued, "You see this? That's the send button."

Winter began, "They had reasons to assume you'd been compromised."

Then Qrow stated, "And I have reasons to assume you don't need to be here." Then he turned to the others and asked, "Seriously, who invited her?"

Then Ironwood said, "Schnee, we'll discuss this incident back on my ship."

Winter began, "But, sir...!"

"Winter, leave." Ironwood finally stated.

Then Winter saluted and said, "Yes, sir." and with that, Winter left.

After Winter left, Ironwood motioned towards Qrow, "Go on."

Qrow began, "Your little infiltrator isn't just another pawn. They're the one responsible for Autumn's condition."

Glynda yelled, "What!?"

Then Qrow began, "Despite what the world thinks, we're not just teachers or generals or headmasters. The people in this room, the leaders of the other two academies, we're the ones that keep the world safe from the evils no one even knows about. It's why we meet behind closed doors, why we work in the shadows. So you tell me, James, when you brought your army to Vale, did you think you were being discreet or did you just not give a damn?"

Ironwood answered, "Discreet wasn't working." Then Ironwood pulls up a hologram and continued, "I'm here because this is what was necessary."

Qrow interjected, "You're here, because Ozpin wanted you here. He made you part of the inner circle and opened your eyes to the real fight that's in front of us."

"And I am grateful." Ironwood stated.

"Oh well, you've got a real funny way of showing it." Qrow stated.

Ironwood then said, "The people of Vale needed someone to protect them, someone who would act. When they looked to the sky and see my fleet, they feel safe and our enemies will feel our strength."

Qrow began to laugh, then stated, "You-you think they're scared of your little ships? I've been out there and I've seen the things she's made and let me tell you. They are fear."

Then Ozpin added, "And fear will bring the Grimm. But one thing is for certain, I have a feeling that our otherworldly friend is the one they should truly fear."

Qrow began, "What, Edward? What makes you think they're scared of him?"

Ozpin answered, "Well, for starters, he has fought off against her, the one you mentioned, a few times before, with ease. He has fought in wars and survived the longest. His enemies fear him as if he's the Angel of Death. The innocent, along with his friends and allies, praised him as their Messiah. He has cheated Death a thousand times, and his skills is like no other. His world never had any Auras or Semblances at all, so imagine him, now with his Aura and his Semblance, which what he calls, ' _Heaven's Trinity_ '?"

Ironwood and Qrow were surprised by Ozpin's statement, and Qrow commented, "Wow... I... can see your point, Ozpin."

"Besides, I think he may be the one." Ozpin said.

Qrow then asked, "What? You think he's the Protector of legend? The one who's supposed to protect the Maidens who are pure hearted?"

Ozpin then said, "Yes."

XXXXXX

' _3rd POV..._ '

"Are you sure?" asked Cinder.

Mercury answered, "Bad hair, used a scythe and smelled like my dad after a long day. It was him."

Emerald then asked, "What do we do?"

Cinder answered, "Nothing. We stay the course. They have no idea who we are, so we have no reason to worry. Besides, the last of the heavy lifting is being taken care of, thanks to our clever little friend."

But then, Cinder paused for a moment and asked Mercury, "And what is the status on Edward Vaughn?"

Mercury answers, "Well, turns out that Edward has an armored mech suit that he can change on the fly."

Cinder raises her eyebrow and said, "Show me."

Then Mercury pulls up a hologram of the supposed armored mech suit. Cinder simply stated, "Interesting..."

Then Cinder turns to Emerald and asks, "Is it hackable?"

"No, 'cause it's not a robotic mech suit, not like the Paladin. It's more of a metal exoskeleton with armor plating, powered by... something, I don't know." Emerald answered.

"What about his little robot friend?"

"Nope, not part of the terminal systems. Completely separate." Emerald stated.

Cinder sighed and stated, "Why is it so difficult to have the upper hand against Edward? No matter..."

Then she turned to Mercury and said, "Keep an eye on him and observe him. Every information counts.

To be Continued...


	33. Chapter 31: Family Bonds

**Chapter 31: Family Bonds**

 _Location: Above Vale, in the Vytal Collisium Year: Unknown_

I can't believe it! Coco and Yatsuhashi was defeated by Mercury and Emerald! I call bullshit on that! But... maybe one of them is able to create an illusion, since Coco said she thought she saw and heard her partner while in the forest. No one imagines like that, at least I don't, except in one of the Vaults in the Capital once. But the point is, is that Coco, who has a giant chaingun, bigger than mine by far, and Yatsuhashi, being a skilled warrior he is. But, at least part of the crowd was booing at Emerald and Mercury. I looked towards Fox and Velvet, and saw that they were shocked at their team's lose. But then, I noticed that Cinder was leaving with a grin on her face, and not the good kind.

' _One of these days, may you, and all your little friends, be judged by God without mercy._ ' I thought grimly to myself.

Then I left the coliseum and went back to Beacon, and decided to rest up back in my dorm.

XXXXXX

' _3rd POV, somewhere unknown..._ ' ** _(IDK where the location is)_**

"You're... leaving?" Weiss replied.

"Yes. I was merely needed to oversee the transport of additional units to Vale. Our last shipment was lost by an ambush. I believe you had a run-in with it's cargo, actually. It's fortunate those Paladins were still in the prototype stage. Otherwise, your team may not have fared well." Winter replied.

Then Winter began after a brief silence, "Weiss... you've done... well. Out here on your own. You should be proud. I'll be honest, it was quite amusing seeing father's face the day you left for Beacon."

Then Weiss began, "I can't wait to show him what I've learned."

"Oh? And what do you think you've learned?" Winter asked.

"What do you mean? I'm getting better and better with my glyphs. I've even started time dilation. Edward even taught me the things in life, such as to never judge anyone on how old they are, and-"

Weiss was then interrupted by Winter, who asked, "And what of your summoning?"

"I... you know I can't." Weiss replied.

"Don't be ridiculous. Every Schnee has the ability to Summon. we have for generations." Winter said.

"I've tried! It's just... it's the one thing I'm having trouble with." Weiss explained.

Winter began, "We Schnees are unique. Unlike many, our Semblance is hereditary, but that doesn't mean that it will come easily. Your Semblance is like a muscle..." then she started to Summon and continued, "... The More you practice with it, the stronger it will become. But if you only focus on one aspect of it, if you fail to test the limits of what you think is possible..." Then she summoned up a Beowolf, but instead of black, it's white, with blue glowing eyes and blue markings, then Winter continued, "... Then you'll never truly grow."

Weiss was silent, but surprised as she looked at both her older sister and the summoned Beowolf.

Then Winter asked, "If I may ask, what's Edward like?"

Weiss replied, "Edward's like... well, we think of him as not just a mentor and friend, but like a big brother we never had. He's strict sometimes, but he's so kind to us and done everything for us. He also taught us life lessons and he even opened my eyes, and saw that not all Faunus are bad, that leaders are sometimes born, like Ruby, and the like."

Then Winter responded, "So, you and your teammates look up to him?"

Weiss nodded and said, "Yes."

Winter smiled and replied, "I wonder now what his parents are like. I bet they're good people, right?"

Weiss was silent, but then she stated, "His parents were good people."

Winter raised an eyebrow and asked, "Were?"

Weiss began, "Edward's mother died when he was born, and his dad sacrificed himself for Edward and the project, so in order to stop Edward's first major enemy."

Winter was shocked, then asked, "And WHO was Edward's first major enemy?"

"He said they were the corrupted remnants of the U.S. government known as the Enclave. They were horrible people." Weiss answered.

Then Winter asked, "The U.S.?"

"The United States of America, or USA for short, was once a proud nation, made for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness..." Then Weiss began to explain everything to Winter that Edward has told them, about the factions, the creatures, the war, everything.

XXXXXX

' _Edward's POV..._ '

I left my dorm, with Ralphie following, and was about to knock on the door until...

"You'll never beat me old man!" Ruby shouted.

"Heh, you're nothin' but talk, kid." Qrow replied.

Then Yang shouted, "You can do it, Ruby!"

Then silence came and all of a sudden, an unknown voice shouted, "Soaring Ninja Wins! Total Annihilation!"

I then knocked and Yang asked, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Yang." I answered.

"Come on in, Eddie." Yang answered.

I came in and saw that Qrow and Ruby were playing a video game, that Yang and Ruby describe about, and Qrow seemed to have won.

Then Yang asks me, "So, what's up, Eddie?"

"Eh, just got bored and we decided to come over and hang out, is all." I answered, with Ralphie beeping in agreement.

"That's cool. Uncle Qrow was telling us a story about one of his missions." Yang replied.

"Sweet!" I replied.

Then we overheard Qrow stating, "By the way, Ruby. Don't ever call me 'old'."

Then Yang said, "My turn!"

Then the 'Game Announcer' said, "New challenger approaches."

Then Qrow began, "Now, where was I?"

Ruby answered, "You were telling us about your last mission!"

Qrow began, "Right, right. I come across a small village in the swamps west of Mistral. Right off the bat, I knew something wasn't right."

We all listen in and Ruby asked, "What were you doing there?"

Qrow answered, "I needed information. Tired from battling Grimm along the way, I decided to start my search at the town's Inn. The place was crawling with low-lives and thugs, even a few Huntsmen I could only assume had been hired by less than reputable people for less than respectable jobs. And that's when it happened."

Yang asked, "What happened?"

Then Qrow slowly said, "I was defeated... by a mere sight... of the Innkeeper's skirt length!"

Yang threw a pillow at Qrow, who caught it, and Qrow won the match.

I just deadpanned, "What?"

I then sighed from this and thought, ' _I can't believe what I just heard._ '

Then Yang yelled, "You are the worst!"

Then Ruby and Qrow began to laugh. Then Qrow asks, "Best two out of three?"

But then, Ruby asked, "So, Uncle Qrow, did you get in trouble with Ozpin?"

"Nah, me and Oz go way back. We're cool. Besides, I should thank Edward for jumping in to stop the chaos." Qrow stated.

"Well, I had to. I swear Qrow, you remind me of Cassidy, back where I'm from." I replied.

Qrow raised an eyebrow and asked, "Cassidy?"

"Like you, she's a drinker and a fighter. People used to call her the ' _Whiskey Rose_ ', 'cause of her cheeks glowed rose red after she's drunk on whiskey." I answered.

Qrow replied, "Oh, is she single?"

I knew where Qrow's going, but how can I not humor him. I answered, "Last time I saw her, yeah."

Qrow grinned and replied, "Nice!"

Then Ruby asked Qrow, "Hey, so, what are you doing here anyway? I thought Dad said you'd be away on a mission for, like... ever."

Qrow answered, "Well, a professional Huntsman like myself is expected to get results, as soon as possible."

Ruby replied, "Yeah, I get that. We're pretty much pros, too."

"Oh really?" Qrow asked.

"Psst, yeah. Read the news sometime! We totally saved Vale while you were gone." Yang stated.

"Yang, Ruby, we really didn't exactly saved Vale. There was extensive property damages to companies, homes, and the like, with people injured and such. We merely stopped the Grimm and stalled the White Fang." I answered.

Qrow followed up, "He's right. Vale suffered a Grimm attack after you almost managed to stop a train."

Then Qrow won another round again and Yang pouts, with Qrow stating, "And they don't really give out medals for ' _almost_ '."

Ruby stated, "They do, and they're called silver!"

"Well, we helped take down Roman Torchwick. He's locked up in Ironwood's ship and crime's been down ever since. That's basically a bounty mission." Yang stated.

I replied, "Torchwick is merely just a puppet. The White Fang were only halted due to Torchwick's capture. Someone else is running the show, that's for sure."

Qrow followed up, "Again, Edward's right. Roman was just a puppet, nothing more. Sure, you may be acting like Huntresses, but you're not thinking like one. Edward, here, is the only one acting AND thinking like a Huntsman. You really think four girls and their friends could end all crime in a kingdom?"

Ruby answered, "I mean, I did until you said that."

Qrow continued, "Violence hasn't dropped since Roman got nabbed, it stopped. Completely. No White Fang activity anywhere around the city. You cut off the head of a King Taijitu, but now the second head's calling the shots. That's what Ironwood can't get through that thick, metal head of his."

I sighed and replied, "If only the Brotherhood of Steel were here. They would know what to do."

Then Qrow looked towards me and asked, "Let me guess, some sort of government like Atlas?"

"Not really. They are a neo-knightly military order that rose from the ashes of the American military on the West Coast in the years following the devastation of 2077. They search throughout the wastes for technology, research them, and if they turn out to be weapons-of-mass-destruction, they make sure the tech is locked away, so it would not destroy the world again. They are willingly to protect the innocent and aid projects that are beneficial to mankind. They're good people." I stated.

Qrow was surprise and said, "Wow. I guess I wouldn't mind them being here."

Then Ruby asked Qrow, "So, wait, you know the general?"

"Hey, I know everybody to some extent. Remember, you're talking to a member of the coolest team to ever graduate Beacon!" Qrow replied as he pulls out a photo.

Qrow sighed and said, "Team STRQ (Stark). That's where I met your parents, girls. We were pretty well known back in the day."

Me, Yang, Ruby, and Ralphie looked at the photo, and it showed Ruby's mother, Summer Rose (in a white cloak), Taiyang, Qrow himself, and... oh my god.

It was a woman with a katana-like blade and long, black spiky hair. This was Yang's mother.

' _Flashback_ '

 _A red portal opened up and a woman wearing a mask, similar to the ones like the White Fang, but different, somewhat spiky, long, black hair, and wielding a red, katana-like blade._

 _I then noticed that Neo had fear in her face and teleported out. Leaving me, Ralphie, Yang, and the mysterious woman._

 _I asked out, "Who are you?"_

 _She didn't answered, as she teleported out, not without Yang waking up to see her leaving._

 _As the mysterious woman disappeared, Yang looked at me and asked, "Who was she, Eddie?"_

 _"I... don't know, Yang. But something tells me that we might, later on." I answered._

' _Flashback ended_ '

I then began, "Yang, I think the mysterious woman on the train was your mother."

Yang's eyes widened at this and replied, "Y-you're right."

Ruby and Ralphie was shocked about this and Qrow was slightly shocked.

Qrow asked me, "Wait, you saw Raven Branwen?"

"Yes, while on the train. A girl named Neo was about to kill Yang, until I shot her sword out of her hand, then a woman, who you call Raven, showed up. I guess Neo was scared of her, since she teleported out with no time to waste." I replied.

Qrow began, "You're lucky she didn't think of you as a hostile, or she would've killed you, easily."

"Yeah, I'm glad as well." I answered.

Then Qrow stood up and was about to leave, until he stopped, turned towards us and said, "Look. Just remember that you've got a long way to go. And don't think for a second that graduating means you're done. Every day out there is worth a week in this place. You three, you're gonna go far. But only if you keep learning. If you never stop moving forward."

Then Qrow turned to me and said, "And make sure you keep an eye on them, alright Edward?"

I nodded and replied, "Of course, Qrow. I will."

And with that, Qrow left the room.

To be Continued...


	34. Chapter 32: Doubles

_**(Note: If you noticed that I'm skipping the other battles from before, then know that it would take up more time and I can barely keep up with that kind of action. Just to let you know. Also, I hope you enjoy)**_

 **Chapter 32: Doubles**

 _Location: above Vale, in the Amity Coliseum Year: Unknown_

We watched Penny's fight and gain victory, and then Ruby decided to rush to them to congratulate them, then Ralphie and I decided to follow her.

Ruby shouted, "Penny!"

"Ruby!" Penny replied and rush over to hug her, but crashed to the ground. I flinched while Ralphie beeped in surprise.

Ruby then replied in pain, "Why...!"

I thought to myself, ' _Ow, that's gotta hurt._ '

Then they both stood up and Penny said, "Ruby, Edward, Ralphie, this is my teammate."

"Ciel Soleil."

Then Ruby began, "Hi! I'm Ru-"

Ciel began, "Ruby Rose, 15, hails from Patch, leader of team RWBY, status... questionable."

Then Ciel turned to me and began, "Edward Vaughn, 15, hails from somewhere, noted as Wasteland, mentor to teams RWBY and JNPR, status... unknown."

Then lastly, she turned to Ralphie and began, "Ralphie, unknown date of production, also from Wasteland, companion to Edward Vaughn, status... also unknown."

We stared at Ciel in silence, until I spoke up, "Uh... I guess you did your homework."

Then silence came again, but this time, Ruby decided to speak, "So... Penny! You two were incredible out there! How can you keep control of all of those swords?! It's so cool-"

Ciel interrupted, "Penny, I believe it is best if we move on to our next location."

I just simply sighed at this, while Ralphie beeped in confusion.

Then Penny asked, "Could we have just a minute to talk?"

Ciel looked at her watch and stepped back.

Then Ruby began, "So is she... your friend or..."

Penny answered, "Well... in a way. She's like Blake, but if Blake was ordered to spend time with you."

Ruby replied, "Oh! So Weiss!"

"Precisely!" Penny replied.

I stated, "Uhm, Blake nor Weiss are nowhere near as uptight as her." as I pointed towards Ciel.

Then Ruby asked Penny, "Does she know about... you know... Beep boop bop, does not compute?"

"Oh no! General Ironwood doesn't really want anyone to know. There was an incident with a magnet, but I was able to play it off." Penny stated.

Ruby and Penny laughed as I chuckled and Ralphie beeped a happy tone.

Then Penny began, "Ruby. There's something else I've been wanting to talk to you about..."

Penny glances to Ciel, who was still looking at her watch, and Penny said, "I want to stay at Beacon."

Ruby replied, "Penny, they'll never let you do that."

Penny responded, "I know... but I have a plan."

Then Ciel stepped up and said, "It's been precisely one minute, Ma'am!"

Then Penny said to us, "I'll talk to you three, soon."

Then Penny and Ciel walks away, but not before she blew a kiss to Ralphie, who then beeped in joy, softly.

Then Port spoke through the speakers, "Our next match will begin in 15 minutes."

Team RWBY spoke to me about teaming up with Yang in the doubles round, and so that means Yang and I were up.

Ruby said to me, "It looks like you're up. Good luck, Edward!"

XXXXXXX

Me and Yang were waiting for our opponents to arrive. This is my first time to be in an actual match, too, but Ruby, Blake, Weiss, and others seemed convinced that I will do well. I had switched to my Elite Riot Gear and pulled out my ' _All American_ '.

Then Yang said as she stretches, "Welp, now it's our turn!"

"Yup." I answered.

Then Yang asked, "Since they're from Atlas, what do you think they could be?"

"Who knows, but probably more well-mannered and disciplined..." I began, but then we saw that our two opponents showed up and they were colorful. There was a dark-skin guy _**(Not trying to be racist here)**_ wearing a retro-style outfit, and holding his weapon, which is a trumpet. Then there was a Cat Faunus, but instead of ears, a tail, and on roller skates. Did I mentioned she's very colorful?

We stood there in surprise, then I said, "Okay, note to self: Expect the unexpected."

Then the guy shouted to us, "Hey, what's up? The names Flynt Coal."

"And I'm Neon!" she said cheerfully.

I replied back, "The names Edward Vaughn. Nice to meet you both." As I gave a two-finger salute.

"And I'm Yang Xiao Long."

Then Neon asked Yang, "Hey! Where did you get your hair extensions?"

"This is just my normal hair..." Yang replied.

"Ooh! Really?" Neon replied.

"Yeah! Is that a prob-"

Yang then was interrupted by Neon, who said, "You should try rollerblading sometime! It's super fun! It'd probably take you a while though since you're so... you know... top heavy!"

"Excuse me!?" Yang yelled in anger.

"Oh no, you made her pissed. First, you made fun of her hair, then you're calling her top heavy?! Do you have a death wish? Even I wouldn't try to make her angry, and I'm usually not afraid of anything." I said to Neon.

Then Flynt asked me in anger, "Are you threatening her, punk?!"

"What? No! I'm saying that... you know what, you'll see what I'm mean." I stated.

Then the environments came up and showed city ruins, rocky surface, desert, and volcanic area.

Then Port said through the speakers, "Three!"

We readied ourselves and Yang stated, "Neon's mine. Flynt's yours."

I nodded and said, "Got it."

"Two!"

"One!"

Then Flynt and Neon grinned and...

"Begin!"

Then Flynt blowed a sonic boom from his trumpet and I immiedietly switched to my power armor, so I can withstand the blow and survived. Yang, though, not so much, since she flew back.

Afterward, Flynt and Neon were surprised and I replied, "Heh, nice try."

Then I switched back to my Elite Riot Gear, and then stated the one slogan that Boone always said, " _The last thing you'll never see._ "

I then turned on my Stealthboy, see their faces in shock, and made my way to the ruins area and hid in one of the buildings, pulled out my Anti-Material Rifle, and aimed. As Flynt tries to look for me, Yang was already chasing down Neon.

I fired a shot, but he dodged it, surprisingly, then send out another sonic boom in my direction, but luckily, I was already out before the sonic boom destroyed the building.

' _Heh, not bad for a trumpet player._ ' I thought to myself as I made my way to the corner of another building.

I switched to my .45 Auto Submachine Gun, peeked out around the corner, aimed, then fired.

Again, he dodges, barely, and I started to charge at him. I switched to my ' _Blade of the West_ ' while at full charge. Flynt unleashed another sonic boom, but I used the bumper sword as a shield. It worked barely and I continued to charge, then swinged my blade at him. He dodges and jumped back. Then his Aura glowed and... multiple versions of him appeared?

I overheard Port, "What's this?"

Then Oobleck said, "It appears young Flynt has just activated his Semblance, and quite a remarkable one at that. Ladies and gentlemen! Feast your eyes on Flynt Coal's... Killer Quartet!"

I then looked towards the four Flynts and they all grinned. They all unleashed their sonic booms and I switched to my power armor again, trying to keep myself from flying backwards.

They continued as I muttered, "I guess it's time for me to use mine."

Then I activated my Heaven's Trinity and then a pulse of energy emitted, forceing to stagger all the Flynts.

As they recovered, they were shocked to see me, with feathered wings formed on my back, glowing a light sky blue, then I overheard Oobleck on the speaker, "Edward has activated his Semblance! He's using it to counter off Flynt's Killer Quartet! With this, he is stronger, faster, nearly unkillable, and also, being able to fly! Ladies and gentlemen! I introduce you, to Edward Vaughn's... Heaven's Trinity!"

I then overheard Flynt saying, "Wow."

I then stated, "You know, it's been a while since I used this."

Then Flynt used his Semblance again and attacked. I immeidietly raised my fist in front of me, going upward _**(imagine like a shield raised)**_ and my wings moved to the front, the formed the ' _Angelic Shield_ '.

I blocked off the attack with ease and then my wings formed back and then formed around the ' _Blade of the West_ ', improving it into an ' _Angelic Blade_ ', then swinged it on the flat surface and sent Flynt flying, taking almost all of his Aura away, counting that he's out. Then I saw that Neon was going to intercept him in mid-air, and crashed to one another.

Then Port yelled into the speaker, "It looks like Flynt and Neon are out. Victory goes to Yang Xiao Long and Edward Vaughn!"

Then Yang came up, exhausted, and replied, "Nice... job... Eddie."

I deactivated my Semblance and asked, "Are you alright, Yang?"

"Yeah... just exhausted from chasing her down." Yang replied.

XXXXXX

' _3rd POV..._ '

Cinder and Co. were still in shock when they witnessed Edward using his Semblance while they watched the match from the TV.

Cinder then grinned and said, "Such power... I knew I have a feeling that his Semblance was powerful."

Then Cinder pulled up her Scroll and searched around.

Emerald replied, "Yeah, but what kind of name was that? I mean, come on, Heaven's Trinity?"

Mercury replied to Emerald, while doing push-ups, "Well, he has his reasons."

Then Cinder found something, "Oh!"

Then Mercury and Emerald looked to Cinder, and Emerald asked, "What?"

"Oh nothing! We're just going to be making a slight... hmm... ' _alteration_ ' to the plan." Cinder replied as she studied a file that's labled, ' _P.E.N.N.Y._ '

Mercury got up and asked, "What does that mean?"

"It means that this will be even easier than we thought." Cinder replied.

XXXXXX

' _3rd POV..._ '

Qrow enters Ozpin's office from the elevator. Then he said, "You know he's making you look like a fool."

"His heart is in the right place. He's just... misguided." Ozpin replied.

Qrow then said, "Sometimes, I'm not even sure he has a heart. So... have you chosen your Guardian yet?"

Ozpin said, "Maidens choose themselves. I simply believe I found the right candidate. Ever since the day I met her, I had a felling she would be the one. She's strong, intelligent, caring, but most importantly... she's ready."

"And Edward? What about him? Is he ready to become the Protector of her?" Qrow asked.

Ozpin stated, "Qrow... he's been ready ever since he was first born, whether he knows it or not."

To be Continued...


	35. Chapter 33: Legends

**Chapter 33: Legends**

 _Location: Beacon Academy, Vale Year: Unknown_

I recieved a message from Ozpin hours after the round to see him in his office. As Ralphie and I arrive at the elevator, we met up with Pyrrha.

I asked her, startling her, "Coming to see Ozpin, too, Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha nodded and replied, "Yes. I assume the same with you?"

"Yeah, but I don't know why, since he didn't explained the reason." I answered.

"Well, we'll find out." Pyrrha replied.

Then we stepped into the elevator and a minute later, we've arrived.

Then Ozpin saw us and said, "Ah, good. take a seat, you two. I would wish to discuss some topics with you both."

We did as we were told and took a seat, then Ozpin began, "Well Miss Nikos, it comes as no surprise that they've chosen you to move onto the final round of the tournament. Your performance has been exemplary."

Pyrrha replied, "Thank you Professor Ozpin, but I would never have made it this far without my teammates."

Then Qrow came out of nowhere and said, "Personally, I think it's the other way around."

Pyrrha stood up, turned towards Qrow, and said, "I'm sorry, but I don't believe we've been introduced."

I asked, "Where the Hell did you come from, Qrow?"

Then Pyrrha turned to me and asked me, "Wait, you know him?"

I answered, "He's Ruby's and Yang's uncle."

Pyrrha simply nodded in response, then turned toward Ozpin and asked, "Professor, if you don't mind me asking, why have you called us here?"

"Please, have a seat." Ozpin said.

Pyrrha sat back down and Ozpin asked us, "What are your favorite fairy tale?"

"Eh?" I replied, with Ralphie beeping in confusion.

"I'm sorry?" Pyrrha asked.

"Fairy tales. Stories from your childhood. Surely both of you must have remembered some of them."

Then Ozpin turned to me and asked, "Edward?"

"There's one, but more like a legend, about a king named Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. King Arthur was said to wield a powerful sword made by the Heavens, known as the Excalibur. It is also said that the sword can only be wielded by someone who's pure of heart and filled with righteousness, and whoever can wield it, becomes the true king. At the beginning, Arthur was only a poor boy, mistreated, alone, and such. But then, the boy came across the said sword, that was offered by the Lady of the Lake, which is a pure spirit, and Arthur became king, and so forth. Not really much into details, since almost all books were completely destroyed after the war." I answered.

"Impressive." Ozpin replied.

Then he turned towards Pyrrha and asked, "Miss Nikos?"

Pyrrha began to list them, "Well, there's the tale of the two brothers; Silver Knights, who fought the Grimm in a tower-"

But then Ozpin asked, "What about the story of the seasons?"

' _Wait, did he mean the Four Maidens that I've read about?_ ' I thought to myself.

Pyrrha answered, "Oh, of course!"

Then she began, "A callous old man, who refuses to leave his home, is visited by four traveling sisters. The first understands his reclusive nature and urges him to use his time to solitude to reflect and meditate. The second brings him fruits and flowers, tending to his crops and revitalizing his garden. The third warms the man's heart, convincing him to step outside and embrace the world around him. And the fourth and final sister begs him to look at all that he has and be thankful. In return for their kindness, the man grants the maidens incredible powers so that they may continue to help others all over the world. They graciously accepted and promise to share their gifts with the people of Remnant until the end of days. Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. The Four Maidens."

She pauses for a moment and then said, "My mother loves that story."

I thought to myself, ' _I think I have now found a new favorite story._ '

Then Ozpin said, "Would you believe me if I told you both that one's been around since I was a boy?"

Pyrrha and I chuckled and she replied, "You're not that old, professor."

Then Ozpin asked, "Well, would you both believe me if I told you both it was true?"

That caught our attention. A fairy tale... turning out to be true. That's... new.

Pyrrha asked, "I beg you pardon?"

I followed up with Pyrrha, "Yeah, I'm sorry, what?"

Ozpin continued, "What if I were to tell you both that there were four maidens existing in this world, that could wield such tremendous power without Dust?"

Ralphie beeped in confusion and Pyrrha asks, "You mean like a Semblance?"

"Like magic." Ozpin answered.

I was speechless, and Pyrrha began, "I-"

Then Qrow interrupted, "Yeah, first hearing it's pretty crazy."

Pyrrha asked Ozpin, "You're serious?"

Ozpin replied, "Do I look like I'm joking?"

I sighed as my response and Pyrrha answered, "No."

Then Pyrrha began to ask, "Why-why are you telling us about this?"

After a brief silence, Ozpin began, "We are telling you, Pyrrha Nikos, because we believe that you are next in line to receive the Fall Maiden's powers."

Then he said to me, "And we are telling you, Edward Vaughn, because you're the Protector of the Four Maidens, related to the callous old man, the one who granted the power to the maidens."

We were both speechless from this, until Pyrrha asks, "We?"

Then the elevator doors opened to reveal Ironwood and Glynda.

Ironwood said, "Sorry we're late."

As they both came in, Pyrrha then asked, "Wait, what is this? Who are you?"

I pulled out my ' _A Light in Shining Darkness_ ', but kept it holstered without any of them knowing, in case if things go wrong.

Glynda answered, "You know who we are. We're still the same teachers and headmasters you met when you arrived at Beacon."

Qrow added, "'Cept we've got a little part-time job."

Ironwood then said, "We are the protectors of this world..."

Then Ozpin finished Ironwood's sentence, "... And we need your help."

There was a moment of silence, and I thought, ' _This is something... FUCK!_ '

XXXXXX

After a few minutes, we were in the elevator, then Pyrrha asked, "Where are we going?"

Then Ozpin answered, "The vault, under the school."

It took a few more minutes until we finally reached the vault. We exited the elevator, and Pyrrha, Ralphie and I began to follow the four.

Then Glynda stopped and said, "I'm sure both of you have questions."

Pyrrha answered, "Maybe one or two."

"Yeah... you could say that." I answered, followed by Ralphie's soft beeps.

We continued to walk forward and Pyrrha said, "I still don't understand. You said I was next in line to receive the maiden's power. What do you mean by that?"

Glynda answered, "The maidens have existed for thousands of years, but much like in nature, the seasons change. No two summers are alike. When a maiden dies, her power leaves her body and seeks out a new host. Ensuring that the seasons are never lost and that no individual can hold onto the power forever."

I then began, "So, wait, how does this power choose?"

Qrow answered, "Through a series of stupid and convoluted rules."

Glynda began, "Qrow!"

"Hey, don't get mad cause I'm right." Qrow said.

Glynda begins to answer to us, "At first, the only thing was certain was that the powers were specifically passed onto young women, but as time went on, it was discovered that the selection process was more intimite."

Pyrrha asked, "Intimite?"

Glynda answered, "As we understand it now, when a maiden dies, the one who was in her final thoughts is the first candidate to inherit her power."

Qrow added, "Unless it's a dude or some old hag, then the power goes to someone random and our jobs get a lot harder."

Then Pyrrha asked, "Why tell me and Edward all of this now? Why not wait until we've graduated?"

"Yeah, I'm with Pyrrha on this. Why are you telling us this at this moment?" I asked.

Qrow answered, "Honestly, we've run out of time. I don't know if you both noticed, but things are getting a lot scarier out in the world. Tensions are growing high, Grimm are growing stronger, more prevalent, and it's not gonna be much longer before this peace we've all been enjoying so much goes out the window."

I replied, "What did you expect? War never changes. How many times do I have to repeat that in order for you people to truly understand it?"

Ironwood replied, "Maybe in your world, but-"

I interrupted, "No! War is in our nature. We are born to cause war. Humankind and Faunuskind are no strangers to war. We're not perfect. In fact, there's no such thing of perfection."

Qrow followed up, "You know he's right, James. You have to admit it."

Ironwood sighed and replied, "I guess..."

But then, Ironwood began, "But, it's not really a war between nations, that's certain."

Qrow then said to us, "We can fill you both in on the details once we know you're both with us. For now, all you two need to know is that one of the maidens was attacked and for the first time in history, part of her power was stolen."

I then began, "What?! By who?"

Qrow answered, "You should know, since you faced her before ever since you first arrived here in our world."

I remember now, I now know who the person was: Cinder. I has to be her, no doubt about it. I knew she's up to no good. I'll have to keep a watchful eye on her now.

Then we made it to the end of the hall, with two stasis pod and terminals and such. Within one of the pod was a... woman. The woman has short brown hair, a light tan skin, and looks like she's injured.

Then Pyrrha asked, "Is that...?"

Ozpin sighed and replied, "The current Fall Maiden, Amber."

I was in shock and replied, "Wait, she's... still alive?!"

Ironwood sighed and replied, "For now. We're using state-of-the-art Atlas technology to keep her stable, but there is a lot about this situation which is unprecedented."

Pyrrha asks, "What do you mean?"

Ironwood sighed and answered, "Well, we don't know what will happen if-when she passes."

Pyrrha then asked, "Won't her power just transfer to the next host?"

Qrow spoke up, "Look who's been listening. She is smart."

Ironwood answered, "Under normal circumstances, yes."

"Let me guess, this is not the normal circumstances, right?" I implyed.

"You're right, Edward. This is a delicate situation. It's not uncommon for last thoughts of the slain to be that of their attacker, and to make matters worse, no one's ever seen the power split like this before. For all we know, it will seek out it's other half."

Pyrrha said, "Her assailent."

Then Ozpin said, "And that would not bode well for any of us."

Silence came, but then Pyrrha walked up to Amber's pod, then Pyrrha turned to us and asked them, "If all of this is true, why keep it a secret? If this girl is so important, if-if we're truly on the brink of war, why not tell everyone?"

Glynda answered, "From what we understand, it used to be common knowledge."

I asked out, "What?!" Ralphie even beeped in question.

Pyrrha began, "Excuse me?"

Qrow pointed out, "How do you two think legends and fairy tales get started? Even the craziest ones came from somewhere." then he took a drink from his canteen.

Glynda began, "Our group was founded in order to protect both mankind and the maidens. Those hungry for power hunted them with the hope of inheriting their strength."

Qrow added, "And as you can imagine, the ones who succeeded weren't exactly the kind of people you'd want to have unimaginable power."

Then Ironwood began, "And so this brotherhood chose to remove the maidens from public eye, allowing their existence to fade away into legend."

Glynda began, "The things we're telling you both goes against hundreds of years of human history, religion."

Then Ironwood began, "No one would want to believe us. It would cause an uproar."

Ozpin added, "It would cause panic and we all know what that would bring clawing to our kingdoms' walls, which is why we would like to-"

Pyrrha interrupted, "I'll do it. If you believe this would help humanity, then I will become your Fall Maiden."

Silence came and after those moments, Pyrrha asked out to them, "That's what you wanted, isn't it?"

Ozpin began, "It is but I'm afraid it's not that simple."

I sighed and thought, ' _It never is simple._ '

Ozpin continued, "Given Amber's condition, you won't be able to inherit her power naturally. However, General Ironwood believes he has a solution."

"Well, let's hear it, general." I responded.

Ironwood nodded and began, "For the past few years, Atlas has been studying Aura from a more scientific standpoint. How it works; what it's made of; how it can be used. We've made significant strides and we believe we've found a way to capture it."

Qrow added, "Capture it and cram it into something else... or in your case..."

Pyrrha and I were horrified by this, and the Pyrrha responded, "That's-"

Ironwood interrupted, "Classified."

"-wrong!" Pyrrha finished.

I replied, "Yeah, so wrong on many levels."

Glynda replied, "The feeling is mutual, but desperate times call for desperate measures."

Ironwood added, "And these are indeed desperate times. We can't transfer Amber's powers to you, Miss Nikos, but we can give you what those powers are bound to."

Pyrrha replied, "Her Aura."

I muttered, "What?!"

Ozpin began, "Her life would become intertwined with yours. The question is..."

Qrow followed up, "What's that gonna do to you?"

We were all silent for a few moments, until Ozpin concluded, "You have an important decision before you, Miss Nikos. There's no guarantee this will work and there's no telling if you will be the same person if it does. I advise you to take time to think on this matter. But understand that before the Vytal Festival is over, we will need your answer."

After a brief moment of silence, I began, "Well I'm still confused on why I'm here. What the hell do you mean that I'm related to the callous old man?"

Glynda began, "It is said that the decendents of the old man were the protectors of the Four Maidens. That is, until after a few thousands years ago, after six generations, the last Protector was killed by the people who were hunting down the maidens."

"Okay, but what makes you think I'm related?" I began.

Ozpin replied, "It is said that each and every Protector has the same Semblance to one another... your Semblance, Edward."

Okay, that caught my attention. I asked, "Come again?"

Ozpin replied, "Each and every Protector has a Semblance that is the same to your Heaven's Trinity. Especially, with the wings you have."

"Okay, one more question: If I was the so-called Protector, then how did I end up in the world I was born in?"

Ironwood began, "That's the thing we do not know, but one thing is for certain. You're the next Protector to safe-guard the Four Maidens."

Silence came again, then Ozpin asked, "So, what do you say? Are you in?"

I slowly nodded and replied, "Yeah, I'm in."

Then Ozpin began, "Now, the assailent that attacked the Fall Maiden has made their first move and there's no telling when their next move will be."

To be Continued...


	36. Chapter 34: Problems

**Chapter 34: Problems**

 _Location: Beacon Academy, Vale Year: Unknown_

Ironwood was having a conversation with team RWBY in their dorm about the incident from the final round between Yang and her opponent, Mercury...

"I'm sorry, but you've left us with no choice." Ironwood stated.

But Yang replied, "But he attacked me!"

"Video footage and millions of viewers say otherwise."

Then Weiss argued, "But Yang would never do that!"

Ruby shouted, "Yeah!"

Yang's head fell to her hands as Ironwood sighed.

Then Ironwood began, "You all seem like good students and the staff here at Beacon are fully aware that you would never lash out the way you did. Under normal circumstances. But I believe, and hope this to be, nothing more than the result of stress and adrenaline. When you're out on the battlefield, you're judgment can become clouded in an instant. Sometimes you see things that simply aren't there, even after the fight has passed."

Yang then began, "But I wasn't-"

But then, Ironwood interrupted with anger, "That's ENOUGH!"

Then Ironwood said calmly, "The sad truth is... whether it was an accident, or an assault... it doesn't matter. The world saw you attack an innocent student. They already drawn their own conclusions. And it's my job to inform you that... you're disqualified."

XXXXXX

' _Edward's POV, minutes before..._ '

I was waiting outside RWBY's dorm with Ralphie, thinking about what just happened. Pyrrha, now a Fall Maiden and I, the Protector of the Maidens. What's even more crazy, is that I'm somehow related to the supposed old wizard, the very one who granted the maidens their power. But then, pain started to poke me in the head...

"Ugh, great. I got a headache now. All of this is just too much, even for me." I said to myself.

I then turned to Ralphie and asked, "What do you think about all of this, little buddy?"

Ralphie beeped in response, as if replying, " _It's everything against that I'm programmed of._ "

But then, Ironwood came out, looked towards me, and nodded. Then he walked away as we entered without any of them knowing.

"You guys believe me... right?" Yang asked.

Ruby replied, "Duh!"

Weiss replied, "You're hotheaded, but not ruthless."

Then they all turned to Blake and Yang asked, "... Blake?"

A moment of silence came and finally, Blake replied, "I want to believe you."

Ruby replied, "Huh?"

Then Weiss asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Yang started to tear up and asked again, "Blake?"

I thought to myself, ' _Why the fu-_ '

But my thought was interrupted as Weiss asked, "How can you say something like that? Yang would never lie to us!"

Blake sighed and said, "I have someone very dear to me change. It wasn't in an instant, it was gradual... little choices that began to pile up. He told me not to worry. At first, they were accidents... then it was self-defense. Before long, even I began to think he was right. This is all just... very... familiar. But you're not him and you've never done anything like this before."

Then, Blake asked, "So... I want to trust you. I WILL trust you. But first, I need you to look me in the eyes and tell me he attacked you. I need you to promise me that you regret having to do what you did."

Then Yang replied after wiping her tears away, "I saw him attack me. So I attacked back."

Then Blake closed her eyes, then opened them again and replied, "Okay. Thank you."

Then Ruby asked out, "But what if Edward finds out? What will he say about this?"

I replied, "I'm right here."

They turned to me and Ralphie, who was standing in the doorway. I continued, "I was here the whole time. I heard everything."

Then Yang lowered her head in response, as if waiting for me to start screaming at her.

I simply said, "And it is not your fault, Yang. You have already earned forgiveness."

That caught their attention, especially Yang's.

Then Yang asked, "Wh-why? Why forgive me after what just happened?"

I answered, "Because God says to forgive, even to your greatest enemy. God teaches us to forgive others and... I forgive you."

They all stared at me in surprised as I continued, "God loves you no matter how many mistakes you made. Nothing feels better than knowing God loves you, that he is always there for you, and that he will always take care of you. For he says, 'My child, your sins are forgiven'. Besides, I know it wasn't your action you took, so you take no blame for what happened."

Yang began to cry again in response and Ruby began to comfort her. I walked up to Yang and then she grabbed onto me, hugging me.

After a few minutes, Yang finally replied, "Th-thank you." as she wiped away her tears.

I then said, "Get some rest, Yang. You need it."

Then Yang sat back down on her bed and replied, "Yeah, you're right. I'll rest up."

Then Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Ralphie, and I left the room so Yang can rest up.

Then Weiss began, "This is a total mess."

Then Jaune opened the door, revealing Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora, worried, and Jaune asked, "She... doing okay?"

Blake answered, "She's doing the best she can. But Edward did help out raising her spirits up." as she pointed to me, and I simply nodded.

Then Ruby stated, "I hear Mercury and his team rushed back to Haven to be with his family. So, until they land, no one can really question him about what happened."

Then Ren said, "If there's anything we can do, please don't hesitate to ask."

Ruby replied, "Alright then... if that's the case... Pyrrha?"

"Hmmm?"

"You make sure to win one for Beacon, okay?" Ruby said.

"It's what Yang would want." Weiss replied.

Then a short moment of silence came until Pyrrha replied, "I'll do my best."

Then Ruby replied, "I'll be sure to watch tonight in case you're picked!"

But then, Pyrrha seemed to... frown for some reason.

Then Blake said, "Sorry, but I think I've had enough fighting for one year."

"Ditto." Weiss replied.

"Same here." I replied.

Then Weiss asked Blake, "Coffee?"

"Tea." Blake replied.

"Yeah, tea would be nice." I replied.

And with that, Weiss, Blake, Ruby, Ralphie, and I walked away to have some tea.

XXXXXX

' _3rd POV..._ '

Pyrrha continued to frown until...

"You heard the lady! No more moping around!" Nora shouted, catching Pyrrha off-guard.

Then somehow, Nora changed to her fitness clothing in an instant and made a dramatic pose, pointing at Pyrrha and yelled, "We gotta get your butt in shape for the big fight! It could be today! It could be tomorrow! It could be the most important fight of your entire life!" then tried to lift a 1000 pound lifting bar, (tell me what the name it is) but falls over.

Pyrrha was at a lost for words, "Um..."

Then Ren began, "Nora's right."

Pyrrha looked towards to Ren, who's wearing a pink apron with ' _PLEASE DO NOTHING TO THE COOK_ ' written on it.

Ren continued, "You can't let your concern for Yang hold you back. You need to focus. You'll be defending the honor of Beacon Academy."

Pyrrha nodded with a slight smile, then replied, "Of course. I-"

But Pyrrha then was interrupted by Ren, while holding a glass of green slime, bubbling, and said, "This blend of herbs and vegetables is filled with nutrients vital to your body's well-being."

Pyrrha replied, "Oh... that's-"

"Please, there's no need to thank me" Ren replied.

Nora began, "Thank you?! Ugh, that looks like slime from a lake-bed!"

"Algae contains numerous spectacular properties." Then Ren handed the glass to Nora and continued, "See for yourself."

Then Nora took a drink, only for her face to turn sickly green, "Ugh!" then ran towards a trashcan and threw up.

After a few seconds, Nora shouted at Ren, "What is wrong with you?!"

Ren replied, "Me? You're the one that wasted perfectly good juice."

Nora argued, "We're supposed to help Pyrrha, not poison her!"

Ren replied, "There was absolutely nothing wrong with that."

"If it looks the same coming up as it does going down, then there's something wrong!" Nora said.

Then Jaune walked up and said, "Hey. How about we all get some fresh air?"

XXXXXX

' _Edward's POV..._ '

We were having tea in the cafeteria while talking I was telling stories about my adventures in the Wasteland...

"Ooh! Ooh, tell us another one!" Ruby said. The others nodded in response. I just finished telling them about my adventure through the Great Divide, with Ulysses and Ralphie.

I smiled and replied, "Okay, now let me tell you on how I first got my power armor from a combat simulation."

Weiss raised an eyebrow and replied, "A combat simulation?"

Blake asked, "What was it about, Edward?"

"It was about a historic event, known as Operation: Anchorage. It's during the war when the US was trying to liberate Anchorage, Alaska from the Red Chinese Communists." I replied.

I told them about Benjamin Montgomery, about where the location is, which Ruby, Weiss, and Blake understood, since my power armor was winterized, and the like. I even told them about the Brotherhood Outcasts and the like. I then showed them Jingwei's Shocksword and activated the voltage.

"Whoa! It's an actual shocksword! Awesome!" Ruby replied.

But then, a large crash erupted and showed an area of cracks and damages to a certain wall. Then we heard yelling, likely Pyrrha's and we ran outside, only to see Pyrrha running off crying and Jaune shouting out her name while he's on the ground.

We ran up to him and I asked him, "What the hell just happened?!"

Jaune ignored me and simply said to himself, "What did I say...?"

I helped Jaune, then grabbed him and repeated, "Jaune! What happened?!"

"I-I... I don't know, Edward. I feel like I said something wrong." Jaune replied.

I then replied, "Give her some room. Some time alone, alright?"

Jaune nodded and replied, "Alright, I will."

XXXXXX

' _A few minutes later..._ '

Ruby, Ralphie and I went to the landing pad, where there was a line, but then we saw Velvet, taking pictures. Ruby went towards her, with me and Ralphie following.

Then Velvet noticed us and she replied, "Ruby, Edward, Ralphie! How are you guys doing?"

Ruby replied, "Hi Velvet! What are you up to?"

"Oh, you know, just working on my photography. Do you guys wanna see?" Velvet responded.

After Ruby looked, she replied, "That's... better."

Then Velvet said to Ruby, "I'm sorry to hear about your sister. Is she doing okay?"

Ruby replied, "Yeah, she's... fine. Heh, thanks."

Velvet replied, "I think it's just awful what people are saying about her. Yang is such a nice person."

Ruby replied, "Well, I'm glad someone thinks so."

Then Velvet turned to me and asked, "What about you, Edward? What do you think about all this?"

"It's all bullshit, and excuse my language, Velvet. I know Yang, and she wouldn't do this, no way, no how. I'm starting to think she was set up somehow." I replied.

Velvet nodded and continued, "Most people don't know what it's like on the battlefield. I mean, even experienced fighters can get scared and start seeing things. If it can happen to Coco, it can happen to anyone."

I asked, "Wait, what happened to Coco?"

"Yeah! She swore she saw Yatsu with her in the forest during the fight with Emerald and Mercury, but he never even made it out of the geyser fields. Stress-induced hallucinations, apparently." Velvet replied.

Ruby replied, "Yeah..."

I began to think, ' _Hmm, I wonder if one of them has the ability to create illusions. Maybe-_ "

Then a flash erupted from Velvet's camera and she replied, "Ooh! Sorry."

XXXXXX

' _3rd POV..._ '

Ruby was back in the coliseum while Edward was back in his dorm with Ralphie and was waiting for the match to begin, until...

She saw Emerald across to the other side and said, "Emerald's here?!"

Then Ruby stood up and left. She went through a door and continued to walk until Mercury walked out from a room.

Ruby was confused from this and replied, "Mercury?"

But then Port voice, while muffled, spoke, "It looks like our first contender is Penny Polendina from Atlas!"

Ruby asked out, "What are you doing here?"

The Port's voice continued, "And her opponent will be... Pyrrha Nikos from Beacon!"

Mercury grinned from the announcement. Then Ruby realised and replied in horror, "Oh no..."

Mercury then stated, "Oooh, polarity vs metal. That could be bad."

To be Continued...

 _ **(Again, I'm sorry if I was a little preachy in the beginning, but I hope you enjoy! Now for the final, long-ass chapter, it will take a while, so don't rush me.)**_


	37. Chapter 35: War never Changes

**Chapter 35: War Never Changes**

 _Location: Beacon Academy, Vale Year: Unknown_

I was watching the TV, viewing the tournament, until I was caught off-guard when I saw that Penny was fighting against Pyrrha. I knew Penny was an android, which are made of metal, and Pyrrha, who controls polarity, including metal. After the fight though, it hit me like charging Deathclaw and it even took Ralphie off-guard.

Ralphie beeped in terror and despair as we witnessed Penny being torn apart by Pyrrha, but it looks like Pyrrha was unstable, as she collapses to the ground onto her knees, crying, and I knew she wasn't to blame. In fact, Ralphie knew as well, and we both knew it was all a setup. I lowered my head, sighed, then all of a sudden, a broadcast from Cinder came up.

"This is not a tragedy. This is not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust. Your safety. Your children. To men who claim to be our guardians. But are, in reality... nothing more than men. Our Academies' Headmasters wield more power than most armies and one was audacious enough to control both. They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have here? One nation's attempt at a synthetic army, mercilessly torn apart by another's star pupil. What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference. And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First a dismemberment, now this? Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy. Yet I have witnessed either. Perhaps Ozpin as though defeating Atlas in the tournament would help forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded it's streets. Or perhaps, this was his message to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied an unsuspecting Kingdom with armed forces. Honestly? I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong. But I know that the existence of peace is fragile and the leaders of our kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves. as someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you; the situation there is... equally undesirable. Our kingdoms are at the brink of war. Yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark. So I asked you... when the first shots are fired... who do you think you can trust?"

The broadcast ended, with me staring at the screen. Then I sighed, and replied, "War never changes." I then heard gunfire being erupted and saw that the Grimm were invading, along with the White Fang.

I then stood up, took out my ' _A Light Shining in Darkness_ ' and Jingwei's Shocksword, but still sheathed.

Ralphie began to beep in sorrow, still fazed by his crush being killed, and in a questioning tone as well to me as I began to walk to the door. I simply said, "Come on, Ralph. We got a war to fight." as I cocked my gun and went through the door, with Ralphie following behind.

Then the sirens erupted, noting that the war has begun, then a voice blurted out, " _Alert. Incoming Grimm attack. Threat Level: Nine. Please seek shelter in a calm and orderly manner._ "

I switched to my ' _YCS/186_ ' and my power armor, then blasted off to the coliseum. I then noticed the lockers blasting off to the same area and landed on top of a Nevermore. I then landed, then looked towards them all. Team JNPR, Ruby, and Team CFVY, along with others.

Ruby began to tear up and said, "P-Penny's-"

I walked over to her, put my hand on her shoulder, and said, "I know. we'll make sure we'll avenge her death. One way or another. Cinder will pay. All of them will pay."

Ruby looked up to me with an expression of shock and replied, "C-Cinder?"

"She was behind it all. She's the puppet master, the one who pulled the strings." I replied.

Ruby nodded, knowing what I meant, until the the Nevermore slowly woke up and screetched at us. Then something happened to me. A surge of energy started to flow through my veins and somehow, a giant figure, made out of my own Aura, appeared and grabbed onto the Nevermore's neck. I then recognise it, or him in this case.

" ** _LIBERTY PRIME IS ONLINE. ALL SYSTEMS NOMINAL. WEAPONS HOT. MISSION: THE DESTRUCTION OF ANY AND ALL CHINESE COMMUNISTS._** "

It was Liberty Prime, made out of my own Aura. Then LP crushed the Nevermore's head and tossed it aside.

Then LP spoke, " _ **THREAT NEUTRALIZED. AWAITING ORDERS.**_ "

I was about to answer, but Pyrrha began, "Ruby, I-I'm so sorry."

"Me too, but it wasn't your fault." Ruby replied.

"Indeed. It was Cinder." I replied. But then I looked towards Penny, who laid there, while Ralphie beeped in sorrow. I walked over to Penny's body, knelt down, and closed her eyes with the palm of my hand.

I then stood up, turned to them, and saw that Jaune was giving Pyrrha her weapons.

I then continued, "But now... now is not the time for grieving. Now is the time to avenge our fallen friends. We must fight back! Now is the time to show them what for! Now is the time to show them what we say to those who took everything away from us! It is time to go to war! Are you with me?!"

Everyone cheered with 'yeahs' and such.

But then a flock of Grimm Griffins showed up, and I yelled out, "Liberty Prime! Neutralize all hostile creatures, ASAP!"

" _ **ACKNOWLEDGE. ENGAGING AGGRESSORS.**_ " LP replied as he began fired his laser eye.

I tossed my Scroll to Ruby and said, "Ruby! Use my Scroll to bring in your Cresent Rose!"

She nodded and did so. After that, she tosses back my Scroll and her locker landed at our location. As she run towards it, a Grimm Griffin landed on top of it, roaring at her, but been shot off by Port and Oobleck.

Port then began, "Students. I think it would be best for you to leave."

I argued, "Fuck no! We are here to fight a war, Professor and Doc."

Then Oobleck shouted to me, "Mr. Vaughn! This day will surely go down in Remnant's history. I prefer it if my students could live to tell about it."

"Fine, they can go..." as I pointed to my friends, then continued, "... But I'm staying, right LP?"

Port and Oobleck looked up at Liberty Prime, who said, " _ **AGREED. THIS IS OUR FIGHT AS WELL. WE FINISH IT... TONIGHT!**_ "

Then they looked to me, as I'm summoning an army of Brotherhood of Steel, and I said, "We, the Brotherhood of Steel, does not back down from war."

I was about to follow my friends and comrades as LP climbs out of the coliseum, but stopped and said, "And don't worry, I'm unkillable."

As we continued to run, we saw an Alpha Beowolf fighting against Ironwood, and I managed to summon up a Alpha Deathclaw, and yelled out, "Deathclaw! Tear that Alpha to shreds!"

All the others are baffled from this as they saw the Alpha Deathclaw went charging in head-on at the Alpha Beowolf. As the Beowolf was about to swipe at Ironwood, the Deathclaw rammed into the Beowolf. As they stared at each other down, and roared at each other, they began to fight. But it wasn't long for the Deathclaw to come out victorious, as it let out a victory roar.

Even Ironwood was surprised and didn't know what to think of. We all ran to him and I said, "Don't worry. That's an Alpha Deathclaw I summoned. He's on our side."

Ironwood nodded and I then summoned up a pack of Deathclaws to follow the Alpha, so they can tear up any more Grimm, a couple squads of American GIs _**(From Operation:Anchorage)**_ , NCR infantry and rangers, the Enclave, and Brotherhood of Steel Paladins, Knights and the like.

I then summoned up a cluster of BOS, NCR, Enclave, and US Vertibirds to go along. I then said, "And here, I summoned up some reinforcments for you, Ironwood. The American GIs, NCR, the Enclave, and the Brotherhood of Steel. They'll help you out."

Again, Ironwood was baffled from this, but then said, "Thank you, Edward. They will help us greatly."

"Good. Now what is the situation, General?" I then asked.

"Grimm are crawling all over the city. The White Fang has invaded Beacon and to make matters worse, some vagabond has seized one of my ships. Until we regain command, the skies are out of our control." Ironwood stated.

Hmm, maybe I can help with that." I replied as I summoned up bunch of Stingray fighters and the Boomers' B-29 Superfortress.

"There you go. Now you got some Stingray fighters, Vertibirds, and the one, the only B-29 Superfortress Bomber." I replied as the listed aircraft flew overhead, preparing for a bunch of dogfights.

Again, Ironwood was baffled, then asked, "You really ARE the Protector. Being able to use magic and all that."

Everyone else is confused and Ruby asked, "Protector?"

Ironwood replied, "I'll explain later, but right now, I'm-"

But then Ironwood was interrupted by a few Deathclaws roaring and shreding a Ursa to pieces.

Ironwood continued, "I'm going to take the skies back, thanks to your help, Edward." as he looked towards me.

As Ironwood walked to his dropship, Jaune asked out, "What should we do?"

Ironwood stopped, turned towards us, and said,"You have two choices: defend your kingdom and your school... or save yourselves. No one will fault you if you leave."

I spoke out to Ironwood, "We're not here to run, we're here to fight to the end. Someone had declared war on us and we intend to finish it."

Ironwood nodded and turned back to his dropship and ordered his men, along with allies I made, "Let's move out!"

He boarded his ship and it took off, leaving us behind, but then somehow it was shot down.

But then, all of the Atlas androids turned on us and I summoned up an army of robots. Sentry Bots, Assaultrons, and such, and I order, "Neutralize the threat."

Then a Sentry Bot replied, " _ **ACKNOWLEDGE.**_ "

Then the Sentry Bots and others engaged.

Ruby yelled out to the others Huntsmen and Huntresses, "You go and leave. Me and Edward got this."

The others nodded and then Ruby and I proceeded back to the arena. As we arrived back, Ruby went up to one of the lockers and activated it. Then she hold onto it and blasted off.

' _She's crazy... like me._ ' I thought to myself as I launched with my jet pack and gone after her.

I then noticed that we were heading to the ship that Torchwick was on, and then Ruby leapt off into the ship, and I landed beside her.

XXXXXX

' _3rd POV..._ '

Blake and Weiss were fighting off against the hacked Atlas Androids and the White Fang members until unknown soldiers made out of blue Aura showed up, some of them were familiar _ **(I'm talking about the American Power Armored GIs from the DLC Operation:Anchorage)**_.

A soldier with winterized combat armor and weilding an assualt rifle said to them, "Don't worry, we're on your side. You should thank Edward for that."

"Edward?!" both Blake and Weiss replied. Then aircraft flew overhead and dropships started to drop off soldiers, joining the fight.

"Yep!" replied the American GI, until they saw a Bullhead crashing down, but an Alpha Beowolf jumped out, and roared. It then charged at them.

"Oh no..." Blake said.

Then all of a sudden, an Alpha Deathclaw charged in out of nowhere and fought against the Alpha Beowolf. And the rest of the Deathclaws fought against the the other Beowolves.

"Huh, the Deathclaws have perfect timing." an Enclave X0-1 soldier said.

Weiss and Blake stared in shock as they heard the name ' _Deathclaw_ '.

Then an NCR soldier said, "I'm just glad they're on our side for exchange."

A BOS T-45b Knight replied, "Amen to that!"

Then out of nowhere, the Crimson Dragoons **_(from Operation:Anchorage)_** showed up and went up to them, speaking in English, but with their accent, "We help you, Americans."

Blake turned to the American GI and asked, "Who are they?"

"They're the Crimson Dragoons, from China. I guess they're on our side this time." the GI replied.

Weiss then said, "We should split up."

Blake nodded and the American GIs, half of the Brotherhood, and the NCR went with Weiss and the Crimson Dragoons, Enclave and the other half of the Brotherhood went with Blake.

XXXXXX

' _3rd POV..._ '

"Whoa." Mercury said.

Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury were watching the whole scene as they witness unknown enemies made out of blue Aura started to show up and started to assist Atlas and the Huntsmen and Huntresses. Then a large plane with a picture of a woman wearing a blue jumpsuit with the number 34 flew overhead and bombed an area.

They were all in shock, and Emerald suggested, "It may be Edward. His Aura is blue, after all."

Cinder nodded and said, "He is powerful."

Then they all saw a giant robot marching on through, firing lasers and tossing bombs, killing every White Fang and Grimm alike.

Cinder replied, "Very powerful, indeed."

XXXXXX

' _Blake's POV..._ '

I was now leading a squad of Edward's allies that he summoned up, and came to a window. then I heard a familiar voice.

It was Adam.

"N-no..."

Then one of the Crimson Dragoons asked me, "What is it?"

After a brief moment of silence, I muttered out, "A-Adam?"

Adam replied, "Hello, my darling."

Then an Enclave X0-2 soldier shouted, "Let's get 'em!" as he crashes through the wall with his Plasma Caster, as he calls it, and charges in head-on.

XXXXX

' _Liberty Prime's POV..._ '

I was eliminating every hostile threat until the earth itself shook.

I replied, " _ **SCANNING...**_ "

Then a nearby mountain blew up and revealed a dragon-like creature.

" _ **HOSTILE THREAT LEVEL: RED. ALERT! SETTING THREAT AS PRIMARY TARGET. ENGAGING.**_ " I replied as I fired my laser and I began to battle against the Grimm Dragon.

XXXXXX

' _Edward's POV..._ '

After we took out the last of the Grimm Griffins, Ruby and I witnesses a Grimm Dragon showing up out of nowhere and then began to battle against Liberty Prime.

"Oh great! A mother fucking dragon! Wonderful!" I yelled sarcastically.

Ruby said, "Well, at least Liberty Prime is kicking its butt, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so." I replied as I turned around, just to meet with a familiar foe, Neo. And the bitch winked at me again!

"You are a cocky bitch, aren't you!?" I yelled out.

XXXXXX

' _Blake's POV..._ '

Half of the squad was down, but the ones who still stood was the Crimson Dragoons, since they're the masters of sword combat.

I was stepping back as Adam said to me, "Running away again? Is that what you've become my love? A coward?!"

I asked out, "Why are you doing this?!"

He answered, "You and I were going to change the world, remember? We were destined to light the fires of revolution!"

Then he unsheathed his sword and pointed to an innocent student, and said, "Consider this the spark."

Then one of the Crimson Dragoons charged with his sword drawn and clashed blades with Adam. The Crimson Dragoon said, "You have no Honor! You. Are. Pathetic!"

But Adam somehow knocked him out and I charged at Adam and clashed blades with him. I said to him, "I'm not running!"

Adam replied, "You will. But not, before you've suffered for your betrayal, my love."

XXXXXX

' _Edward's POV..._ '

We were fighting against Neo and Roman on top of the airship and we were getting our asses kicked.

As we were on the ground, Roman said to us, "Little Red and Mister Courier... You two are just determined to be the heroes of Vale, aren't you?"

Before I was able to reply, I noticed that the B-29 was heading in our direction and I smiled. I grabbed Ruby and said, "Sorry we have to leave, but we need to be somewhere else."

Ruby asked me, "What are you-"

Then Ruby saw the plane that was coming towards us and she then immiedietly knew what I was going for.

I continued, "Have a ' _blast_ ', you two." And with that, me and Ruby jumped off.

XXXXXX

' _3rd POV..._ '

Roman and Neo saw the Courier and Red jumping off and were confused. But then, they heard a buzzing sound getting louder. As they turned, they were met with a giant plane... dropping heavy bombs on to them.

Neo and Roman were shocked, and Roman replied, "Son of a Bi-" he was cut off as both him and Neo blew up into pieces.

XXXXXX

' _Edward's POV..._ '

We landed on top of a building and witness the airship falling down in flames and saw that the B-29 fly on by us.

I then motion Ruby, "Come on, Ruby! We still have a war to win!"

Ruby nodded and her and I ran back to Beacon.

To be Continued...

 ** _(I was going to make a last chapter, but I'll have to cut it short here. I'll finish up on the next one, hopefully it will be the last chapter, but no gurantees. In any case, I hope you enjoy.)_**


	38. Chapter 36: The End is where we Begin

**Chapter 36: The End is Where we Begin**

 _Location: Beacon Academy, Vale Year: Unknown_

After fighting through the city, we finally arrived back at Beacon, but something was wrong, beside the fact that all but Liberty Prime had vanashed.

Weiss turned to us as we approached, "Ruby! Edward! Where have you two-"

"Don't worry, we're fine!" Ruby replied.

But then I asked, "What's going on?" as I switched back to my Desert Ranger Combat Armor.

Weiss fell into silence and Ruby began to worry, "Weiss, what's wrong?"

Weiss stepped aside, and we saw something that we never thought we saw. Yang and Blake were on the ground, injured. Yang was missing an arm while Blake had a stab wound to the stomach area.

Blake was still conscience as she grabbed Yang's hand, and replied, "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry."

I walked up to both of them, pulled out two Super Stimpaks and used the first one on Blake.

"It's alright, Blake. This will help you." I said as I inserted the Super Stimpak

Then I turned to Yang and inserted the Super Stimpak into her, making sure she stays alive.

I heard Ruby replied, "Yang..."

As I stood up and turned to Ruby and Weiss, and Sun walked up and said, "Hey... she's gonna be okay. The soldiers have a ship ready to take you guys to Vale."

But then Nora said, "But Jaune and Pyrrha are still missing!" then let out a groan of pain.

Both me and Ruby responded, "What?!"

Sun yelled out, "Look, we need to go... now!"

"No!" I yelled.

All of them looked towards me and Sun asked, "What do you mean ' _no_ '? We need to evacuate!"

"I am not leaving this war, unfinished. I have to do this! I must! That Cinder bitch must pay for her crimes, my way." I replied.

"Your way?" Ren asked me.

I pulled out my ' _A Light Shining in Darkness_ ' and cocked it, then Ren nodded and understood what I meant.

Weiss then asked, "You're going to kill her!? She needs to be in prison!"

"She's too dangerous to be left alive!" I yelled out.

After a moment of silence, Ruby said, "We'll find them... we'll find Jaune and Pyrrha."

I nodded and replied, "Yeah, let's go, Ruby."

But then, Ralphie was about to follow me, but I stopped him.

"No, Ralphie, stay here. We'll be back, I promise." I said, and Ralphie beeped as he understood.

Weiss said to us, "I'm coming with you both, and no arguments."

I simply nodded at her, then I turned to the others and replied, "Watch over Blake and Yang. We'll be back."

I then looked to Ruby and Weiss, and said, "We should split up."

Ruby and Weiss nodded and she took off running while I activated my Heaven's Trinity, and flew off towards the tower.

XXXXXX

' _3rd POV..._ '

Both Jaune and Pyrrha ran outside from the wrecked building and Jaune replied, "Okay, I think I have Glynda's number. Oh, where is it?" as he searched through is Scroll.

Pyrrha looked back to the tower, and Jaune finally asked, "Pyrrha? What was all of that?"

"I-I-" Pyrrha was about to reply, until they heard fire bursting up to the tower. They knew it was Cinder.

"But... Ozpin..." Jaune said with sorrow.

Pyrrha then said to Jaune, "There's no time... Go! Go to Vale, and call for help!"

"Huh? What're you gonna do?" Jaune asked.

Pyrrha looked back to the tower and Jaune knew what she meant.

"No... no, Pyrrha, you can't! You saw how powerful she is! Pyrrha, I won't let you do-" Jaune began, but was interrupted by Pyrrha kissing Jaune.

After she kissed Jaune, Pyrrha said, "I'm sorry." and shoved Jaune to a nearby locker.

She began to type in coordinates as Jaune tried to reason with here, but to no avail. after that, the locker blasted off.

Pyrrha then turned towards the tower, and walked in.

XXXXXX

' _Edward's POV...'_

After a few minutes of flying, I saw a locker flying by to the others, and heard Jaune's voice.

My eyes widened as I realized what Pyrrha was going to attempt. She was going to fight against Cinder, and I knew I had to fly faster. I then started to witness the tower in the distance being destroyed from the inside, and after a few minutes, it calmed down, that's when I went overdrive, as I fly to the tower.

I arrived as I saw Pyrrha was wounded on the ground, and the Cinder bitch walking up to her.

I flew in between them and made a shockwave, only forcing Cinder to fly back.

I turned to Pyrrha, pulled out another Super Stimpak, and inserted into her, and said, "What were you thinking?!"

"It had to be done, Edward!" Pyrrha argued.

"Well, now you get to live to see another day." I said.

Pyrrha was silent in shock, then replied, "Y-you're going to-"

"Yes." I replied.

Pyrrha was about to argue, but I didn't let her. I walked away from her and said, "Just know that just in case if I don't make it, just know that I had a wonderful time with you all. All the memories I made was thanks to you and to the others."

I paused as I then turned to her, and said, "But I have my doubts that I can be killed. Afterall, I'm the Courier AND the Lone Wanderer. I'm a one-man army."

I paused again, then said to her, "Go."

Pyrrha nodded and ran off, seeing as the Super Stimpak healed her, and I turned to Cinder, who has stopped before me.

 _ **(Insert your own epic music)**_

It's obvious, she was pissed. She said, "What? You think you can defeat me? You have no chance, insect."

I was silent, unfazed by her itimidation, and I replied, "I have defeated people like you. The Monster of the East, the Enclave, the Legion, and so much more. I have fought wars, and survived. You don't scare me, not even a little. For I have cheated Death, a thousand times more than not. I am the Courier. I am the Lone Wanderer. I am the Messiah. But I am never alone. God and the Heavens are with me. My parents are with me, even in death. All of the Angels of Heaven are cheering my name from above, even if you can't hear them. I am now the Protector, the very descendent of the lone Wizard that granted the Four Maidens their powers."

That took Cinder by surprised, since she now had the expression on her face, and I continued, "I am from a different world, a world scorched by war, where not even you could survive."

Again, that took Cinder by surprise, as I announced my origins, I then asked out, "So you tell me, you Pyro Megalomaniac. Do I have a chance, or are you a coward?"

That pissed Cinder off as she blasted me with the power of the Fall Maiden. Damn! This hurts like Hell! But that's not going to stop me. As I slowly walked up to her, with my Jingwei's Shocksword and my ' _A Light Shining in Darkness_ ' drawn, and when I was close enough, I stabbed her in her stomach. She hacked and cough, and as she was in shock, she slowly looked up to me, eyes widdened, I then pointed my gun to her head, then pulled the trigger.

She dropped down dead, in her own pool of blood, but then I became weak. As I heard footsteps from behind, and heard Ruby's voice, "E-Edward?"

I fell to my knees, then fell on the floor, losing consiencness as I thought, ' _Heh, guess the power of the Maidens were very powerful. Damn._ '

As everything was turning to a white flash, I heard Ruby's voice, calling my name, then nothingness.

XXXXXX

My eyes began to adjust, until I heard a familiar voice, an voice that I would have never thought I would hear again.

"Hello, my son."

My eyes widdened as I saw my Dad, standing before me.

"D-Dad? Is that you?" I asked out.

"Of course, my son! It's me!" my dad replied.

I looked around and asked, "Where's Mom?"

Dad chuckled and said, "Well, I'm afraid it's not your time yet."

"Oh." I replied.

Then out of nowhere, a familiar figure in a white cloak came up to us, and Dad said, "Ah, Miss Summer Rose. What brings you here?"

My eyes widdened. This was Ruby's mother! She's here, right before me!

Summer said, "Hello James. I'm here to speak to your son. I want him to bring a message to my daughters."

Dad nodded and said, "Ah, I see."

Summer then turned to me and said, "I want you to say these words to both Yang and Ruby, is that alright?"

"Anything, Miss Rose." I replied.

"She gave a warm smile and replied, "Thank you."

Then she began, "Tell them that I'm proud of them for their accomplishments. That I will always love them. And call Yang by Flame Dragon and Ruby, My Little Rose."

"Got it." I replied.

Then Dad turned to me and said, "Now, my son. Go and rejoin your friends. They need you and beware, Edward, Salem now threatens all of life itself."

"Salem?" I asked.

"Not enough time, Edward. You must go now." Dad said.

I nodded and said, "Alright. I hope to see you again, Dad."

"Same here. Take care."

"You too."

And with that, everything went white.

XXXXXX

As the white flash begins to fade away, I started to hear Ruby's voice.

"Edward! He's waking up!"

My eyes opened, and I was meet with team RWBY's faces as they looked down upon me. I even saw that Yang now has a synthetic arm now.

I simply said, "'Sup."

Then they gave me room as I began to stand up and I asked to them, "How long was I out?"

"Almost half a month or so." Weiss answered.

"Damn! Being in Heaven for a short notice is really time consuming." I said.

Their eyes widened as they heard my statement and Ruby replied, "Y-you were dead?"

"Momentary, yes. But I have a message for you two from your mother, Summer."

They all were shocked to hear this, especially Yang and Ruby.

I said, "She says she's proud of you both for your achievements. that she will always love you both, and to say your little nicknames. Flame Dragon and My Little Rose."

Both Ruby's and Yang's eyes widened once they heard it. They then began to tear up from this.

Then they both ran up to me and gave me a hug.

XXXXXX

' _A few minutes later..._ '

After I got the run-down of everything, about Penny being brought back to life, Ozpin surviving, and everything else, I told them that we should be warry of Salem, who I found out was supposed to be a legend, that is the source of all Grimm, even the Dragon. I knew from that moment onward, it was war. We prepared ourselves for a journey to face the so-called Salem and stop all of this, once and for all.

XXXXXX

' _Epilogue_ '

 _'The End is where we Begin', it's the phrase when everything ends and a new beginning takes place afterward. Things like after certain events, like the end of a war, a civil rights movement, and the like. It even involves with everyday life, when a person's view on the world changes, through words or sight, and even after death. Death is not actually just the end, it is also a beginning, and not just reincarnation, but when you go to the afterlife, like Heaven, or possibly Hell, depending on what you did in life; if you have sinned, like murder and such, and enjoyed it without regret. But where ever and whatever our afterlife is, it does exist. You see, all living beings, animals and sentiant beings like a human being, have souls; an aura of life. When we die, it doesn't mean that both our bodies and souls die, souls are eternal; never ages and never dies. Bodies are just mere vessels for our souls that ages throughout time, like a house, for example._

 _But for me, my life began anew in a whole different world, a world lush of green and teeming with life, but the dangers also lingers there. My old life ended when I was transported to the world of Remnant, away from a world scorched by war; dead, barren, and very dangerous. Madness and Greed taken hold of the minds of men and women, murdering each other for horrible reasons, to mutated creatures that will tear you limb from limb. Even though I made a name for myself during my travels, it feels like my time, my story, had came to an end, leaving an opening for someone else to take my place, and continue with my goals: to help and protect the innocent, even if it costs you your life. They always do, because people have said to me that I have taken the place, the role, of the one known as the Chosen One, who took the place from his father, known as the Vault Dweller. I had no doubt that all of my friends would be wondering where I went, but I know they will carry on without me._

 _In any case, my new life began when I first met a new friend, Ruby Rose. Her personality, her goals, and everything about her, reminds me of myself, willing to risk her life to protect those who are defenseless. Her dedication can even rival mine, for say. From there, even during battles against enemies, monsters, and the like, the friends I met along the way never gave up and will not leave anyone behind. From the way I see them, they are the symbol of hope; the beginning of something great. I take no claim of any fame, only they did, if they desire it the most. Even after my battle against a false Fall Maidon, Cinder Fall, I still do not claim to any fame, even if everybody says otherwise._

 _Back in the Wasteland, an old friend once told me, is that war... war never changes, but men do, through the roads we walk. His road ended with me, after we fought together, side by side, to the very end. But I guess for me, when my road ended at that moment back at Big Mountion, I, instead, found a new path, that continues on, as far as I can see. I do not know if I will ever go back, or if I can, but, for now, my life continues onward, as the Huntsmen of Vale. Everyone I met after the tournament and the Great Battle, they have taken the priviledge to call me the Messiah as well, since the rumors about me, who fought against a god-like megalomaniac, and emerged victorious. Heh, it seems that where ever I go, I always ended up to be some kind of hero, but this time, I wasn't the only one._

 _As Team RWBY, JNPR, Penny, Ralphie, and I continued to hunt down this Salem person, who was released from some sort of imprisonment. We continued to train one another, preparing for what ever the future has for us, because **WAR... WAR NEVER CHANGES**._

 _'In Memory of Monty Oum...'_

 ** _(Continued in the sequel: Ranger of Remnant: Chronicles of Sera)_**


End file.
